Beyond the Four Winds
by Darkwysper
Summary: The story of a young Druid who found herself over her head when she became involved in a mission that required interfaction co-operation and the soul of a powerful dragon consort. Based on the incomplete Erranikus questline.
1. CH 1: Where the Beginnning Began

Hello all to my first story ever written :) . I hope it is as enjoyable to read as it was to write. I have no beta or editor so go easy on me, since I'm sure I made at least a few mistakes. I'm sure I'll read back over this at some point and fix these alleged mistakes but for now its late and I'm eager to get started!

This story, for reasons that will become obvious to anyone who has been following lore up until Cataclysm, is going to be placed somewhere around Mid Wrath of the Lich King Timeline. I find it easier to write from that timeline since I know that one better than I know Cata and Burning Crusade was too long ago for me to remember significant lore dates lol.

Disclaimer: World of Warcraft sadly belongs to Blizzard, and so do all "NPC's" that are featured in my story. Thank you for letting me borrow them! The main characters and the rest of the adventurer's all belong to me, so please ask before borrowing :). And I do so love reviews so if you get the chance, even just a small moment, I would appreciate some awknowledgement of my hard work ( and hard work it was, making sure every fine detail of lore was correct as I went along). Now, the moment you've been patiently reading for:

* * *

Chapter 1: Where the Beginning Began

Being rapped on the head with a staff tends to make even the most absent minded elf snap to attention, and Anaiya was no exception. With a sharp exclamation of pain, she rubbed the sore spot on her head and glared spitefully at her teacher, Priestess Astari Starseeker. Priestess Starseeker, having finally earned her pupil's full attention, moved her staff back to her side and frowned in irritation.

"Child, how do you expect to learn anything with your head in the clouds?" She pursed her lips and muttered, "You were aptly named, Anaiya Cloudchaser.". Anaiya, having heard perfectly despite the Priestess's low voice, couldn't help feeling a flush of shame. Here she was, being honored by one of the most powerful of Elune's Priestesses and she couldn't even seem to focus on her lessons. Adopting a look of contrition, she bowed her head.

"I'm sorry Priestess Starseeker, I promise to may more attention! I am honored to have your time". Priestess Spiritmight, sitting nearby on the edge of the Moonwell with her own pupil, Cordessa Briarbow, frowned at Anaiya in disapproval before raising her nose and going back to her teaching. Anaiya sighed inwardly, blowing strands of short green hair out of her eyes. Yes, she knew her mother was an honored priestess of Elune. Alathea Cloudchaser was one of the first to follow Tyrande Whisperwind when she became High Priestess. Unfortunately, Anaiya just didn't seem to have the "knack" of using holy magic to heal or to harm. She much preferred running in the woods with her friends and discovering new things. She loved the free spaces and the calmness of the wilderness, and sometimes she had this…itch inside of her, an urge to do something; to scream like an eagle or run like a cat, and this upset her because she was beginning to suspect that the path of a Priestess was not in her future. The more time she spent in the Temple of the Moon, the more she resented it. Yet she felt, for her mother's sake, that she needed to learn to be a priestess, to make her family proud of her.

Suddenly she realized that Priestess Starseeker was frowning at her again, and this time tapping her foot. Blushing, Anaiya straightened her novice's robes and determinedly stared at the diamond centered between the other's eyebrows.

Astari Starseeker rubbed her temple, dislodging a few strands of errant locks, and seemed to come to a decision. She called one of her fellow priestess', Jandria to her and they held a hushed conversation a few feet away from Anaiya.

'_Great, now their going to tell mother that I wasn't paying attention in class again, and then she'll make a special trip up to the Temple quarters just to tell me how important it was that I learn my lessons, that its very costly, that I should feel honored to be accepted to the Temple. But what about what I want!' _Anaiya sighed again, this time in frustration. Again the hair in her eyes puffed outward before settling back into its customary place, hanging down the sides of her face. Most elves who met her exclaimed how like her mother she was, and how beautiful and willowy she was turning out to be, coming into adulthood, but truthfully she didn't feel any different than a few years ago, or even 5 years ago. The downside to having near-immortality she supposed. Then she frowned when the two priestess's turned as one to stare at her, then shook their heads and went back to whispering.

Priestess Starseeker left Jandria in her place and walked up, gently but firmly grasped a hold of Anaiya's arm, and started walking toward the winding ramp that led to the second floor of the Temple. Anaiya dug her heels in reflexively and stared at her teacher in confusion.

"W-why are we going up there? You're not going to tell Priestess Tyrande are you? Please don't do that! I'll never be able to face mother again!" Her heart beat faster and she gulped, feeling a bit panicked. Just what she needed, to be written up again for being a "wayward child that needed to learn responsibility".

"Calm yourself child, I think it's about time that the High Priestess know your true feelings in this. Its been obvious to me from the beginning that you have no desire to become a Priestess of Elune, and I refuse to waste any more of my time on someone set against this calling." She quickly hustled Anaiya along, despite Anaiya's stumbling. She felt a bit startled and bewildered by this sudden turn of events, but had a small thread of hope. _'Maybe they would let her study something she was interested in, not what _they_ wanted her to be!_' and before she knew it she found herself in the presence of the leader of Darnassus. Although Priestess Tyrande had never tried ruling over the elves, or dictating their way of life, most of the Night Elves honored Tyrande as an unofficial leader, and she was the one who met with the delegates from the other heads of the Alliance.

Anaiya bowed deeply and clutched her robes in fists to keep from showing her absolute awe and fear of being in the same space as someone so famous, so esteemed as Tyrande Whisperwind. She had heard many stories of the High Priestess, both good and bad, of her battle prowess, her expertise in matters of state, of how her lover slumbered in the Emerald Dream for an indefinite amount of time. The High Priestess, who was talking idly to Emissary Valustraa from the Exodar, turned at their approach with a raised silver eyebrow. Anaiya kept her head down and stared at her sandaled feet, effectively letting a veil of green hair hide her face. Novices of the Temple were only allowed to wear white sandals and plain white robes until they had passed their test to become apprentice priestesses, at which time they had more freedom to choose their studies and wardrobe.

"High Priestess," Priestess Starseeker bowed reverently, and at a nod from Tyrande stood straight and gestured to Anaiya. "As you know, five months ago I took on a new novice, one that I thought held promise and vast skill in the Holy powers. It did not take me long to figure out that she indeed has strong inner magic and skill, but she does not belong in the initiation of Priesthood." Here she actually looked at Anaiya, as if assessing a fine battle-cat mount in auction. Anaiya had to resist the strong urge to either open her mouth and insert some sort of apology for not being what they had expected, or turn and run back down to the novice quarters and hide under the blankets.

"I believe," Priestess Starseeker began, "that she has the potential and the spirit of becoming a Druid." Anaiya gasped, eyes flying to her teacher's face in utter astonishment. A Druid? She never thought…Elune be praised, was that the reason for her strange wild yearnings as of late? Each month that went by in her training at the Temple she felt more constrained, more impatient for something else, to go out in the world, to explore everything that lay below their towering tree home of Darnassus. Being only 72 winter's old, barely old enough to be on her own, she had never left Darnassus, but often dreamt of it. If Priestess Starseeker was right and she indeed belonged with the Druids, then she could be free to leave the city! She knew that novice Druids were allowed great leeway in their training, and if they were skilled enough, were sent to the enchanted Druid city of Nighthaven for specialty training. She envisioned herself, half a year hence, sitting quite contentedly on a bench in Nighthaven, overlooking Lake Elune'ara. Immediately after that followed the thought of visiting the prominent capital city of Stormwind, the central Alliance city. She grinned eagerly, turning to watch what the High Priestess had to say. Tyrande was still silent, gazing at Anaiya, seeming to look right through her. Finally, she brushed back a strand of silver hair, and spoke.

"Is this true Anaiya? Do you not feel right here, following your mother, Alathea's, footsteps? Are you certain that your path lies not with the Priesthood?" As she spoke, she stepped closer to Anaiya, who again felt a shiver of nervousness at being in the High Priestess's presence. Very few novices even glimpsed the High Priestess in all the years they spent at the Temple of the Moon. Tyrande had much more important work to complete to worry about the 'children' in training. All novices were referred to as children, which she could understand since most of them began as young children and spent many years of their young existences learning the path they had chosen. And since there were so few, only when they were completely sure of themselves, and knew their calling, did they venture out into the world to gain experience and to help heal the land and fight off the myriad evils that permeated Azeroth.

Giving the thought to her words that she knew was warranted, Anaiya swept hair that had drifted into her eyes behind her ears, maneuvering the strands around the long pointy appendages with ease. On the one hand, she would make her mother proud, would learn how to heal companions and give aid where it was needed. When she finally did venture into the world, she would be able to skillfully help others in need, find good employment with anyone who was looking for a competent healer, and would also know how to look after herself using the shadow spells that she would learn at a later time. But, on the other hand, is that what she really saw herself doing twenty years or more down the road?

Did she really want to spend half of her life training to be a Priestess, and the rest of it running around following the orders of others and rushing to wherever she was needed most, if she even left Darnassus! Many priestesses she knew were quite content in the extremely large tree-home. She was not. She knew in heart what she wanted, and it did not involve the Priesthood. The more she thought on the idea of becoming a Druid, the more she was eager to try.

"I-I," wetting her lips, Anaiya took a deep breath, composed her face, and nodded. "I often feel during my study time that all this doesn't make any sense to me, as if it was beyond my grasp. All the other novices at my point in training have already begun casting Healings and learning to harness their inner strength for Elune, while I have yet to muster anything resembling Holy or Shadow powers. And I…" She trailed off, wondering if she should reveal this part. She never told a soul of her inner desire to live wild and free, to do what she wanted, to have no laws, to risk danger just for the sake of it. Being raised in a small household surrounded by Priestesses and Sentinels of Elune, she found that her inner desires were not the norm of the elves around her and tended to keep her thoughts to herself, instead striving to be what her mother would be proud of. Well, time it all came out, she thought determinedly. This is not where I'm happy, and I'm sorry for that, but I want to be who I want to be, not what others want me to be.

"I sometimes have the urge to, uh, act like a wild creature, to run and run till I can't anymore, to climb the highest tree just because I can, to lay in the warm moon glow and listen to the sounds of nature around me. Honestly, I think I would make a far better druid then a priestess. High Priestess Whisperwind." She bowed again, and then fell silent, waiting. She resisted the urge to cross her fingers, knowing the final decision laid with the High Priestess and her mother, and she could only either go along with them or run away. Finally she could get out of the Temple! For weeks now she'd been entertaining thoughts of telling her teacher that she was going to quit, she had not the desire for this calling. The only thing that kept her back was facing her mother's disappointment that her only daughter was not going to become a priestess like herself. '_Oh well, I have to state my independence at some point. But what a way to do it'_, she thought wryly.

After a lengthy discussion about her duties, how she would explain to her mother, where she would stay (since she obviously couldn't stay at the Temple any longer), and a last "are you completely sure that this is what your want?", both Priestesses agreed that it was for the best that her lessons be cancelled for the day at least, while they contacted her mother, who was at the moment, in Ashenvale. In the meantime, High Priestess Tyrande sent a missive, by way of one of her loyal Sentinels, to the Druid's Enclave, requesting (Anaiya's opinion was that it sounded more like a demand) that Archdruid Fandral Staghelm set up a meeting between Anaiya and a Druid who could be available to apprentice her once she was given her mother's approval.

Because, like it or not, she was not yet old enough to have a say in her own matters and she needed parental consent to make such a drastic switch in studies. Since Night Elves were extremely long lived, and there had been few born over the years, everyone seemed to take the most extreme measures in protecting the younger generation. After that was all said and done, she waited in awkward silence with her teacher and Tyrande for news from the Archdruid. After about half an hour Anaiya's small attention span was getting the better of her. Tyrande started muttering, frowning prettily with her eyes cast down from the balcony they all stood on, as if willing the Sentinel to return. Another 10 minutes later, when Tyrande looked ready to march over to the Enclave herself, the Sentinel Anaiya remembered being sent walked back into the room and up the curved ramp to the balcony where Tyrande waited with folded arms.

Her elegant shining robes seemed to sparkle in the fey light of the Moonwell and Anaiya couldn't help feeling entranced by the play of Moon light on hem. The sentinel, looking as if she'd rather be anywhere but here, handed the letter over, then stood off to the side, alert and at the ready, but also glancing nervously every few seconds to Tyrande's face. Curious, Anaiya also watched the High Priestess, and didn't miss the expression of irritation, and then exasperation, that across her fine features as her glowing eyes scanned the letter. Her lips thinned and she suddenly crumpled the letter in a fist.

"The nerve of him! Men! Says he can't be bothered by my petty problems. Fine, we'll just have to go there ourselves. It's about time I've had a talk with the Enclave anyway."

At this point, Anaiya was almost regretting the whole situation and was desperately yearning to return to her quarters for some quiet studying. She wasn't deaf or dumb, and had heard the rumors just as well as anyone else had in the city, about the disagreements and arguments that went on between the High Priestess and the Archdruid. In fact, they were quite famous for their loud opinions of each other. But what was done was done, and her daydreaming today had just been the fish that snapped the hook. Although she wasn't liking the stir her decision was causing, and she hadn't even been to see the druids yet! She sighed, realized everyone was staring at her, and shot a bewildered look at Priestess Starseeker.

"See, you see why it's impossible to teach her anything, as scatterbrained as any Druid I've come across." Priestess Starseeker proclaimed with a huff, making a "she's hopeless" gesture in Anaiya's general direction. Anaiya glanced down at herself sheepishly. Tyrande just looked at her sharply, before replying, "Never mind that, come. We've some Druids to talk to." She swept past them with a swish of cloth, and her sentinels immediately fell in behind at a respectful distance. Priestess Starseeker gestured ahead of her, as if to say hurry up! and Anaiya hastily hurried after Tyrande. For a Priestess who was…well, as old as Tyrande, Anaiya thought with some mortification for thinking it, she walked fairly quickly, and seemed to glide silently along the Temple's corridors toward the exit.

By the large, ever-glowing Moonwell, Cordessa glanced over, caught sight of the procession passing, and her eyes and mouth made a wide O in shock. She shot an envious look at Anaiya, who couldn't help but glare back. She never could stand Cordessa, always a show off and know-it-all, always boasting about her strong healing powers and proper priestess upbringing.

Outside, the serene twilight atmosphere worked wonders to calm Anaiya's nerves, and she breathed in deeply. A light wind carried with it the distinct scent of Teldrassil, their beloved tree, as well as many other scents; fruit blossoms, vendor meats and breads, the unexplainable smell of magic, and, as she walked by the Apothecary, the strong smell of herbs and spices. As much as she yearned to venture out into the world and make a name for herself and see such wondrous sights as the cape of Stranglethorn Vale, Blackrock Mountain in Searing Gorge, and the legendary underground city of Ironforge, she already felt a bit of longing for the way things were now.

Darnassus would always be her home, and she promised herself she would return someday when she had had her fill of adventuring. As the group walked by, the patrolling sentinels all bowed to Tyrande, and vendors quickly moved to one side of the arched white bridges that spanned the vast upper reaches of Teldrassil. Anaiya spared a thought, like she sometimes did, to wondering just how they were all able to live secluded and peaceful in a giant tree in the midst of an all out war. Yes, even she had heard the rumors of the Lich King taking over Northrend, of threats and fighting between the Alliance and the Horde, of the uprising of Scourge armies and the strange mysterious Scarlet Crusade, but all that seemed distant while living here in Darnassus, as if they were above it all.

As they passed the central span where most elves tended to gather to commune with each other and conduct their business, their small group earned more then one stare.

'_Great, now I'll be the talk of the city for years to come! Elune, I wish I had just told mother from the beginning that I never wanted to be a Priestess._' Glumly Anaiya recognized a few of the citizens standing by the bank. They blinked at her, as if not understanding why she'd be wandering the paths with the High Priestess. Or maybe they were just wondering how such an upstanding Sentinel like her mother could have such a flighty daughter.

Finally they crossed the last white span and reached the branches that housed the Cenarion Enclave. Without pause, Tyrande strode right into the building that more resembled a hollowed out log then one of the usual tree-fort-like buildings the Night Elves were commonly found living in. Once inside the room, with Priestess Starseeker, the 2 sentinels, and Anaiya following closely behind like a royal retinue, Tyrande paused, eyed the open and spare entrance chamber with a dismissive frown. The chamber was filled with elves of both gender, all talking or gesturing to each other, always in pairs. It reminded her quite startlingly of the Temple. Somehow she'd expected something a lot different, maybe with wild trees and bushes growing everywhere and a druid hiding behind every nook and cranny. How silly of her!

A male elf, kneeling by the Moonwell in the center of the room with a young elf by his side, happened to glance toward the entrance reflexively, went back to discussing something with his apprentice, then seemed to stiffen, and quickly glanced back at them again. His glowing eyes widened slightly, then he stood and prodded the young elf to also stand. Anaiya watched with only half interest as the male brushed himself off and quickly walked over, with shocked respect on his face.

Most of her was taken up with giddy excitement as she gazed around the room. She'd never been to the Cenarion Enclave of course. For the most part only Druids were allowed inside, or those with important business with them. Everyone knew that the Druids were fierce in protecting their privacy. Actually, she admitted, the Druids were known to be fierce period. They were brave and strong, and staunch allies in a fight, able to shapeshift to their best advantage and change tactics mid swing to put their opponent off kilter.

She watched avidly as an older male elf made a waving pattern in the air with his hands and green mist seemed to follow like a whisp to a night light. A young female elf with bright purple hair and eager eyes watched his every move, mouthing something to herself. Elsewhere, a deep blue colored cat perched on a low table, watching with intelligent eyes as a young male elf squeezed his eyes shut and seemed to go rigid with tension. There was a brief flash of…something, and the younger male elf disappeared, with a light colored cat in his place. Both cats had an eerie rippling quality about them, as if when they held perfectly still they would completely blend into the background and cease to be seen to the untrained eye

. Finding she was grinning like a fool and earning more then one curious look, Anaiya decided to pay more attention to the discussion going on between Tyrande and the Druid who had approached her. She seemed to have only caught the tail end of the conversation and cursed her easily distracted mind for the tenth time this evening.

"-and I refuse to consider anything less then a full examination and proper teaching, with studies in all the areas she'll need, including the ones she'd missed from the start of the initiation. And Danatharion? Be kind enough to tell the Archdruid I wish a word with him before I go." The last was said with a note of warning. The elf, Danatharion, gulped audibly, and glanced upward before nodding at Tyrande. He winced, then spun around and set off for a small, out of the way ramp that spiraled up into a second floor that Anaiya hadn't even noticed, too preoccupied as she was with the many druids training around her. Tyrande turned back to her, and then her face softened into a smile.

"Don't worry child, I've known for years you belonged with the Druids, and I'll be sure to tell your mother so, esteemed Priestess though she is. Don't let any druid push you away either, you learn all you can, and catch up your studies, I see great promise in you some day, great promise." She murmured something else in a much more serious tone that Anaiya couldn't make out, then strode off in the same direction as Danatharion. The 2 sentinels followed her like silent, deadly shadows, a cat's grace in their every step.

Left alone with her teacher of five months, Anaiya shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. She may not have liked her studies, or the assumption that everyone in the Temple had that she would become a great Priestess one day just because of her ancestry, but she did respect her teacher and wistfully admitted that she'd miss her. Being in such close quarters with the same woman day after day was bound to either create some sort of bond or cause bloody murder, and Anaiya now felt a bit teary at the thought of leaving that behind. Priestess Starseeker eyed the room, her feet, and finally Anaiya.

"Here now child, it's not like your gone from us forever. I'm sure we won't mind if you come visit from time to time. And of course your not being ousted from the Temple this very day. This is just an introduction, a tour of sorts, and a small exam to see if you have the skill required for the taxing shape shifting that is required by all druids." Anaiya nodded, then smiled.

"Thank you Priestess Starseeker. You don't know how much I wished for this. Well actually you might," she amended hastily, remembering all the pointed, searching looks her teacher sent her after being reprimanded for day dreaming yet again. "And you can be assured I'll still come visit. Oh! And I'll need to explain to Sindrayl and Dargon what's going on. Elune I bet their wondering where I am right now!" The thought of her fellow novices and roommates made her feel a pang of sadness to be leaving the Temple. They had formed a sort of kinship, the three of them, and often studied together late into the night. Impulsively she reached forward and hugged her teacher.

"Don't worry, I'll find them and tell them where you are when I go back to the Temple. Speaking of which, I gather there's no real reason for me to be about any longer, not to mention a few of these druids are eyeing me askance and it quite reminds me of how a bird eyes a tasty grasshopper for lunch. Ugh druids." She patted Anaiya's light green hair, making the short strands dance out of place and into her eyes, _again_, cuffed her affectionately under the chin, then pointed behind her and mouthed '_good luck'_.

Anaiya watched her walk back out for a moment, before grasping the hint and turning where the Priestess pointed, and saw a tall elf male standing behind her, a scowl on his face. He had striking purple hair, the glowing eyes of all her kind, and wore a rich purple and green robe with scales and feathers woven into it. The scales seemed to glitter with an inner light and the feathers waved in an imaginary wind. Standing in front of him, Anaiya suddenly felt very insignificant, and became conscious of only wearing a simple white dress. She resisted the urge to nervously straighten her hair, and offered a tentative smile. She was just thinking of what she ought to say when the elf spoke instead.

"Well? Do you have nothing to say?" The man demanded savagely. Taken aback, Anaiya licked her lips and said the first thing that came to mind. "Uh, hi. I'm Anaiya Cloudchaser, here to learn to-". The other elf cut her off mid sentence with an impatient wave of his hand. "Yes, yes I know who you are and why you're here, I did get a letter after all. I'm not stupid. " He eyed her dubiously at the last comment, as if implying that she was. Now feeling slightly affronted by this aggressive dismissal, she opened her mouth to say more when she saw Tyrande, with an annoyed frown, sweep down the ramp like the elegant Priestess she was. Anaiya was slightly puzzled, having forgotten the Priestess had gone upstairs, so caught up in her surroundings. The druids nearest the Priestess dipped their head respectfully before going back to their work. The priestess, having noticed Anaiya and the druid, twitched her robes irritably, and stormed over.

"I had thought that your druid would have delivered the message that I wanted to talk to you." She bit out curtly the second she came up to the man. Still facing Anaiya with his back to Tyrande, he grimaced, then turned around. "High Priestess. Yes I was just looking for you actually. I thought my letter was explicit enough in explaining why I don't nee the hassle of some half trained priestess suddenly deciding she'd like to turn into a kitty instead." The man's words were anything but respectful and became downright mocking by the end of the sentence. Feeling resentful and not liking being ignored, Anaiya stepped forward to protest, but the man turned his glare full on her and she stopped without taking a step.

My, somebody licked the wrong bowl of catnip, she groused to herself.

Completely ignoring her existence as if she were nothing more then a fine rug or a potted Silverleaf plant, he and Tyrande fell to arguing, which seemed to concern her at first, but then fell into city problems, politics, and downright complaining about each other. '_Okay this is really awkward_', she sighed yet again, wondered if there was a record amount of sighs one could do in so many hours, and then instantly regretted it as her sigh fell quite obliviously into a sudden lapse in speech between the two bickering elves. Both raised an inquiring eyebrow at her, and the male elf folded his arms again with his perpetual scowl back in place.

"Are we boring you, novice? Perhaps you'd rather run along and play in the Moonwell? Obviously you couldn't be bothered to pay attention to your Priest Trainer so now you think you want to come put yourself upon us." His icy tone made her light purple skin flush with anger, but she refused to say anything and instead stared at her toes peeking out the tops of her sandals. Giving her a last cursory glance, the man then turned back to Tyrande.

"Very well, I'll take her, although it appears to me she's lacking in respect and proper etiquette. In my opinion she seems a complete waste of time." The man shrugged, as if to say it wasn't his problem.

"Now go meddle elsewhere Tyrande, I've things to do and your wasting my time." With that, and a parting glare for both, the elf stepped quickly away from them and marched back up the ramp to the second floor. Letting out a breath, Anaiya muttered "I hope they're all as fun as he is", and then sent a horrified look at Tyrande. "I'm sorry High Priestess! I meant no disrespect." She bowed low, keeping her head down. Tyrande's tinkling laugh sounded, and she smiled at Anaiya. "He just likes to bluster is all, the Archdruid and I don't exactly see eye to eye on some things. Actually", she made a face "We don't see eye to eye on anything." She sighed, gave a nod to Anaiya and serenely glided out of the Enclave, sentinels in tow.

It came to Anaiya that she didn't know what to do now. She glanced from the entrance to the upstairs ramp, then back again, feeling little jolts of distress and nervousness in her belly. She hated being the center of attention, and even if she wasn't, she felt as if every eye in the room was on her.

Nervously wiping the palms of her hands on her white novice robes, she glanced around for some idea or hint of what was to happen now. Wasn't there supposed to be someone to test her or show her around…or something? Just as she was about to either have a nervous breakdown or think of some way to leave without embarrassing herself further, a smiling young woman of her own age walked up to her. The woman dipped her head in greeting, and when Anaiya greeted her back, the woman clasped her arm in a friendly fashion.

"I'm Meliri Windsong, Danatharion sent me to fetch you. Said you probably would like a friend and someone to show you around." She grinned, a bright cheerful smile that made Anaiya feel relaxed and relieved at the same time. She almost felt herself sag as some of her anxiety leeched out of her.

"Hi, Anaiya Cloudchaser. Thank you, I was beginning to feel like an abandoned wolf pup." The woman's grin was catching, and Anaiya found herself smiling back. "So, how long have you been here, do you like it? And uh, oh I'd just like to know everything!" She giggled self consciously.

"Heh, I was the same way when I first came here. I've been training in Druid magic for 3 years now, but I've only been at the Enclave for one. I spent most of my time in Nighthaven." She sighed wistfully. "Being a druid is so wonderful, so different. I didn't even bother learning about anything else. Selling fruit pies? No thanks. Shooting people full of arrows from a distance? Boring. I wanted up close and personal "swipe your face off" stuff, and being a Druid? I can't describe it! It's beyond my wildest imaginations. When you learn to shapeshift for the first time, Elune bless me its nothing you've ever felt before! And casting powerful nature spells is so exciting. I can't wait till I take my Talent Exam! Then I will be able to choose my own lessons and study times, be able to decided what I'd like to do with my life and where I'd like to go, because Elune knows I don't want to stay in Darnassus my whole life, although I know every Druid says that." She laughed, the high silvery sound customary to all Night Elves, and led Anaiya over to the Moonwell.

"That's Cyroen Moonclaw, he's the 3rd highest ranking druid in the Enclave." Meliri pointed to an elf male who was using a long wooden rod to stir tendrils of mist that lay on top of the Moonwell in glowing airborne puddles. "And that's his apprentice Jorin. Jorin is such an annoying boy, he's always pulling pranks on us."

She made a face at the young man in question, a handsome looking elf in a forest green tunic and breeches. Cyroen Moonclaw looked over and smiled at Meliri. She blushed a light bluish pink and hastily dipped her head in greeting before moving past. Anaiya glanced at her companion, then over her shoulder, but decided to keep silent. Meliri seemed grateful at her silence, and continued on rattling off names as she passed the various druids clustered about the room, interspersed with explanations about certain actions the druids were performing.

After a time all Anaiya saw was a blur of bright hair colors and half remembered surnames. She was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed. She wasn't supposed to remember all these people was she? Meliri then showed her to several other chambers, most containing scrolls and heavy books, either neatly stacked on shelves or opened on tables. Meliri explained that these were the studying rooms that the apprentices used for their studies when not with their trainers. She then assured Anaiya that it was actually a quite relaxed training program and the apprentice druids were allowed to freely wander the city in they're free time as long as they always arrived on time for curfews and training lessons. She was then led to the dining area, elegantly furnished and lit with glowing Moonlamps. It reminded her of the Temple in a way.

"Ah, Miss Windsong, Miss Cloudchaser. There you are." At the voice, both girls jumped and turned from examining a statue of a dancing elf outside the druid's sleeping quarters. The man Anaiya recognized as Danatharion was standing by the doorway, smiling kindly at them. "Thank you Miss Windsong, for showing Miss Cloudchaser around. Now, I'm sure Ellandrieth is wanting her pupil back…?" He left the sentence open but implied that Meliri was dismissed. She dipped her head to him in respect, then turned back to Anaiya and grabbed her hands. A bit startled by the contact, since she hadn't been very close to anyone at the Temple, Anaiya almost jerked her hands back before she suppressed the urge and glanced into Meliri's eyes questioningly.

"After you've moved in for real and have everything sorted out, why don't you come to my quarters? There's room for three and its just me and Vinasia at the moment, so your more then welcome to stay with us. I think it would be wonderful and I could help you catch up on your studies and we could be friends!" The other young woman's happy smile made her offer a genuine one, and Anaiya was pleased to find that she felt an answering warmth. "Thank you, I'd be honored! And I'd love to have you as a friend Meliri." The girls waved to each other, then Meliri hurried away to go meet her trainer. Once she was out of sight, the druid turned his eyes back to Anaiya, and smiled.

"Well come along, time to take your test and see about scheduling you for studies. Oh, and remind me to look at the Trainer's schedule as well, to see who is available to be your Trainer." Danatharion beckoned her over to him and continued on walking out the door. Feeling a small thrill of excitement, and wonderment, that this day couldn't get any better, Anaiya eagerly followed.


	2. CH 2: When In Moonglade

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Blizzard or World of Warcraft. Thank you for reading, and hope you enjoy the next chapter. The updates will hopefully be fairly frequent but bear with me, I have a full time job and play WoW full time (lol) along with all my other interests.

* * *

Chapter 2: When In Moonglade

Anaiya's new druid trainer turned out to be an older male elf by the name of Firodren Mooncaller. After meeting him, discussing where best to start training her, and the details of a transition from one Class to another so abruptly, Anaiya was surprised to find that it was late in the day, well past evening in fact and she was quite hungry. At the top of Teldrassil, so far above the ground, it was sometimes hard to keep track of time because the light was mostly filtered out by the thick loving branches of their world tree. Darnassus always appeared to be in perpetual twilight, which suited its inhabitants just fine.

Hurrying out of the Druid Enclave, Anaiya couldn't keep from grinning widely, her hair bouncing into her eyes as she skipped across the bridge through the center of the city and headed back toward the Temple of the Moon. She ate in the Temple commons like usual, and her two novice friends cornered her at their regular table, demanding to know where she'd been (they had admitted to being told by Priestess Starseeker, but wanted her own words), and then asking for every detail she could give on the Druid's Enclave. Finally she had to tell them to hush so she could eat for Elune's sake! But she was grinning and spent several hours discussing her day at the Enclave, as well as imparting the gossip that Tyrande and the Archdruid had gotten into it, again.

Just as she was making ready for bed for what she hoped was one of her last nights in the Temple, a young blue haired novice came with a message that she was wanted in the Temple courtyard. '_Now what?_', she wondered as she ran a brush through her hair, straightened her night slip, and hurried to the courtyard. She stopped dead in the arched entrance when she saw her mother talking to Priestess Tyrande and Priestess Starseeker near center of the courtyard. Feeling dread boil inside her, she timidly took a few steps then stopped. _'Oh cursed spirits, this can't be good. I was somehow hoping I'd have moved in with the Druids by the time mother came back._' Mustering up some courage, Anaiya silently walked up to the three women and stood in the small gap between her mother and her teacher.

"Hi mother, I've missed you, welcome home." She bowed her head in traditional greeting to her mother, letting a green curtain again hide her expression. Her mother's eyebrow arched as she turned an eye on her wayward daughter. "So, you don't want to be a Priestess? You don't want to heal others, to use the Holy light bequeathed to our blood to bring peace and good health to those in need? From what I hear you haven't even been putting effort into your learning. Its quite costly you know to keep you in training at the Temple." She frowned, the kind of expression any mother gets when confronting a disagreeable child. Then she took a breath, and her expression softened. "I missed you so Anaiya! Give me a hug". Grinning, Anaiya quickly put action to word and hugged her mother fiercely. Since entering the Temple's training, she hadn't seen much of her mother and found that she missed her more then she thought she would.

"Mum?" Once the formalities were dispensed with, she felt a bit more free to speak her mind. She cleared her throat and spoke up a bit more loudly, but still in a low, determined tone, "Mum, I know this is a bit sudden, and maybe more then a bit extreme on my end, but I know it's what I want. I've always wanted to, not necessarily be a Druid specifically, but to learn something of the wild, of the world out there, to have an adventure of my own. I want to learn all about trees, and tracking, and walking silently, to eat in the wilderness, to learn how to make a campfire with just a few sticks! That sort of thing. Huntress Skymane says that she can tell who is approaching from miles off. She knows how to lay traps and track animals and to catch her own meals! I want to do that. I want to be a druid. Please let me do this. Please don't be disappointed that I don't want to be a priestess." Anaiya said all this while still hugging her mother, and now she let Alathea go reluctantly, so she could best gauge her response. The two were almost equal in height, Anaiya being a few inches shorter as she had not yet begun her last growing spurt. Her mother eyed her up and down silently, and seemed to give her eyes a long searching look, before she glanced at Priestess Starseeker. The priestess gave a slight nod. Her mother then turned back to Anaiya and seemed to hesitate, a slight look of disappointment on her features. Finally her brow smoothed and she nodded, albeit grudgingly.

"Okay, you can train at the Enclave. Such a pain you are!" But she smiled in a loving way. "If your sure this is what you want. And you better pay attention this time! I don't want to hear any reports of how your mind is wandering out the window, or not passing your tests, or I'll send you right back to the Temple and you'll be washing dishes for the rest of your life. And be careful, those druids are rough in their training I'm told, sending their novices out on Rites and suchlike." Anaiya, unfortunately, was tuning most of the lecture out as young ones often did, and was instead doing inner leaps of joy. She couldn't wait to tell Meliri.

"Thank you mum! Thank you so much. You won't regret this, you'll see." She impulsively hugged her mother again, their green hair mingling freely. She laughed aloud, then ran and hugged her former teacher. She bowed to Tyrande, who raised an eyebrow, then went back to grinning at her mother. "When can I move in there? Meliri says I can stay in her room with her roommate. She's been so nice and helpful to me. I bet you'd like her. The head druid doesn't like me much though. Although I think he doesn't like anybody. I have a teacher already! His name is Firodren. I got to see lots of druids, and I even looked at some of Meliri's textbooks and spell sheets. And Firodren wants to start my studies as soon as possible he says. I have a lot to catch up on he says. So can I move in tonight? Can I?"

She was almost bouncing with eagerness to start learning how to hunt in the wild, stalk like a panther, and change shape into large predators. She was looking at her mother with pleading glowing eyes but it was Tyrande who answered with "No, child, its much too late for such things today. Lets get a good half mark of sleep. And your mother has rode her mount almost all the way here from Astraanar just to talk to you. Be patient and good things will come soon enough." Now that she thought about it, Anaiya realized her mother did look exhausted, paler then usual violet shade, and her eyes showed drowsiness. Anaiya nodded, though she was still a bit regretful.

The High Priestess bid Anaiya and her mother good night, said she would like to speak to Alathea when convenient about her time in Ashenvale seeing as how she was here in Darnassus and might as well make her monthly report now, and she then proceeded out of the many arched entrances to the courtyard, with Priestess Starseeker by her side. Anaiya and her mother were left alone. They glanced at each other, and on unspoken agreement, went to sit at one of the many small stone tables that dotted the courtyard. A small unobtrusive stream meandered its way between the tables and Anaiya watched its gentle flow while they sat in silence. Eventually her mother broke the silence with comments on her time in Ashenvale, exclaiming with a grin of the flirtations of a human man she'd encountered while surveying an area south of Astranaar, the small town in the center of Ashenvale.

She mentioned the plant life, how things seemed to be getting more hostile between the Orcs and the Elves in the area, and everyone was getting nervous. But she assured Anaiya that she was fine, and there was no real threat. Then the subject moved on to Darnassus, and Anaiya's time spent in the Temple. Her mother wanted to know how her friends were, how the relatives were faring, if she'd met any boys or had any confessions of undying love to some boy that her mother needed to be aware of, any secrets she'd been keeping while her mother was away, that sort of thing. They talked well into the night, both of them not the least bit tired thanks to their Elvin heritage and their eagerness to catch up on the family togetherness they had missed while apart. Eventually her mother admitted jokingly that her old bones couldn't take the lateness of the hour anymore, and they both agreed that it was time for bed.

As for many novices who had relatives that sometimes visited the Temple for whatever means, Anaiya and her mother were given the guest quarters to share, and they performed their nightly rituals and settled into the soft fur blankets for a well deserved rest. Just before her eyes closed and she drifted off into dreams, Anaiya had such a strange feeling of excitement and foreboding make its way down her spine that she almost cried out, the feeling was so strong. It was like the feeling of an ice cold hand on the nape of her neck, the dread one feels before leaving on an unplanned and possibly long trip, the feeling that your forgetting a very important and essential item that you'll regret not having later, a small bit of knowledge that you know your missing a key ingredient to your mix. She frowned, but the feeling passed so incredibly quickly that her overly sleepy mind dismissed it as jitters over her upcoming move into the Druid's Enclave, and thought nothing more of it. If she dreamt anything significant, it was forgotten upon waking.

The next she awoke, Anaiya was kept very busy packing her things in the novice quarters into small crates that the sentinels had moved by servant from the Temple to the Enclave. After carefully wrapping and packaging all of her belongings, which admittedly did not amount to a whole lot, Anaiya surveyed her empty cubicle. Glancing around the bare space, she mused at how big and spacious it seemed now that her things were gone, almost larger then it was before. She knew that was ridiculous of course.

With a small pang of sadness at leaving it behind, she shut the door and locked it with the tiny silver key she'd been given long ago, and gathered up the small bundle of robes from they're resting space against the wall. This was made up of her novice robes, her sash for special occasions, her novice sandals, and her outer robe emblazoned with a small symbol, the renowned symbol of the Priesthood; a diamond topped staff colored blue within a white circle against a backdrop of solid black.

All this, along with the silver key, she dropped off at the head novice desk. She had on a long thin robe of jade green, which her mother said matched her hair beautifully and complimented her form. Her footwear was just some old slippers she had laying around in her room from before she'd moved to the Temple. At the entrance to the Temple Anaiya found the serving elves waiting patiently with her packaged items, and gave them instructions to find Meliri Windsong at the Druid's Enclave. Her mother helped her organize everything and gather up all her old scrolls and tomes to return to their rightful owners or shelves, and they spent a pleasant morning getting Anaiya moved into the Enclave as smoothly as possible.

Then her mother invited her to the Darnassus Inn for a light midday meal, and they ate at their favorite table in the Inn near the far corner. When Anaiya finally did move out of the Temple that day officially, her mother graciously declined to stay longer and had taken up rooms at the Inn for the duration of her stay in the city. Friends of her mother, having learned she was in the city, kept coming up to the table where her and her mother dined to offer their greeting and exchange pleasantries. Anaiya talked to her mother for close to an hour at the Inn about how excited she was to have the chance to become a druid, and her mother was glad that she had found something that interested her, often giving her advice she already knew by heart.

Later in the evening, she was officially admitted into the Enclave's apprentice books, and she was given a new set of robes, these a dark forest green that her mother disapproved of, considering it a bit too revealing for her. Anaiya had scoffed, saying she was on the verge of adulthood, being only three years away from that point in her life, and she was glad of the opportunity to show that she had the body of one. This of course made her mother even more disapproving. Anaiya gave up trying to win her over on that point. She was not given feet covers, the druids believing that one's feet should be strong and well used to the elements. Of course her mother had something to say about this as well, but finally conceded the point when the clothier said that that was the way druids were trained, if she didn't like it, she could take her daughter elsewhere.

Soon after that, her mother regretfully had to report to Tyrande and journey back to Ashenvale to her post. Anaiya said her goodbyes and promised to be good and send weekly letters on her progress just like when she was living at the Temple.

Finally she was able to actually enter the Enclave again. She had loved time with her mother, and missed her already, but she was also eager to join the druids, meet up with Meliri again, and find her niche in the program. This time, there were few druids lounging about or training in the first chamber, as she later learned to call the Training Common. Finding out that everyone was on an off day, which meant they were either studying or enjoying their brief respite before another long week of training, Anaiya went in search of Meliri. She found her in one of the study alcoves, hovering over two thick volumes on nature magic and absently nibbling on some cheese. Grinning, Anaiya bounded into the room and greeted her friend eagerly with a hug. Meliri was so startled she dropped her cheese on the floor, but quickly hugged Anaiya back.

"Hey! Glad you finally decided to come join us. I told Vinasia that we had a new roomie and she was fine with it. She's a bit uppity but as long as you don't interrupt her studies you'll be fine. She takes her studies waaaaaay too seriously. So, did you just get here? How are things so far? Did you get to see the rooms yet? I'm almost finished here, if you don't mind waiting a few minutes, then we can both go to our room and get settled in. Your things arrived a couple hours ago and I told them to put them on the last bed in the room, hope that's ok with you, since we kind of claimed the other two beds already" Meliri kept rattling on, and Anaiya was astonished by how much the other girl could talk. But she also didn't mind, it was a marked difference from how everyone behaved at the Temple, all quiet contemplation and severe silence. She was enjoying herself already.

Vinasia was indeed a bit of a snob, but Anaiya took Meliri's advice and learned to avoid her for the most part, and they never came to open disagreement over anything, which was fine by Anaiya since she hated confrontations. She was immersed in her studies almost immediately, and her teacher Firodren Mooncaller dived into teaching her control of her nature based inner magic as soon as it was light enough the first day she moved in. The first day was a bit of a disapointment to her, after hearing of her "potential" in druid magic, she had expected a bit more then a half conjured splutter of Moonfire and a small green and gold cloud of leaves which may or may not have been the start of a healing spell. But her teacher assured her she was doing fine so far.

"Anaiya just be patient! Stormwind was not built in a single night! This will all come to you and trying to learn it all at once will just exhaust you to the point where you'll not be able to have the magic to perform even the simplest of spells." Her teacher tisked at her in mild disapproval after her fourth attempt to create a barrier of Thorns around herself. She knew she could do it! The spell was right there, just beyond her reach and if she tried just a bit harder she'd be able to form the thorns.

But try after try yielded no results and she had to agree and take a break. It was just so frustrating to her to know that other students were learning far more advanced magic while she was busy learning spell ranks and power, druid lore, and names of prominent druids throughout history. It was interesting enough but she wanted action! A few days after that she finally mastered Thorns, but still could not muster up even one complete Moonfire strike. When a whole week had rolled past, Anaiya was quite shocked at how immersed in her studies she'd been. She sent off the dutifully promised letter to her mother with an update on her wellbeing and her progress in the Druid's training.

She was careful not to complain of her hard work, as she thought that would be counter-productive after her show of wanting to be a druid so badly, but she did mention that it was hard work and she was doing a good job at trying to catch up to the other novices in her skill-level range who had weeks of training over her. After an entire month had soared past, she was confident that she would fit into the routine life of being an apprentice druid, and was happily ensconced in her training. Every time she was praised by her teacher or by Meliri for being a quick study, she glowed with pride and became ever more confident that she would catch up her studies in time to take the Talent Test with Meliri, although it became quite obvious that Moonfire was something she would never be good at, to her endless annoyance.

The two girls were often seen roaming the alcoves together, quizzing each other on what they'd learned, going over the patterns of this spell, the uses of that spell, and the warnings and perils of shape shifting. Anaiya also made a few other friends among her fellow apprentice druids, a few boys that she and Meliri spent many a night gossiping about, and a small group of girls that had already taken their Test and were willing to offer advice on how to handle it. Finally the time of the next Test was upon the Enclave and stressed, anxious young elves were everywhere, faces a mix of pale distress and overconfident smugness.

Two moons before the Test date, Anaiya was deeply saddened to learn that the Cenarion Circle, the ruling Druid council, had sent her a letter informing her that she was not ready to take her Test yet, as she had only just become an apprentice and had to spend at least another year in training before they allowed someone so inexperienced into the Test. Meliri, in a show of true friendship, also refused to take the Test, and Anaiya was grateful that she'd still have her friend with her in the Enclave to train with and study with until she was ready, although she asked more then once if Meliri was sure she wanted to do this. Meliri had just grinned and said it was fine, she had no pressing plans in mind for the next year anyway, with her trademark grin. Although they were not allowed to take the Test, all of the apprentice druids who were over 50 winters were still invited to Nighthaven for the celebration and Testing Ceremony.

"Really? Even I can go to Nighthaven, to Moonglade, to watch the Testing Ceremony? That's wonderful!" Anaiya was so happy to find out she could go to Moonglade that she begged sick from all her training that day and stayed up all night with Meliri talking about the mysterious druid village of Nighthaven. Having been there before, Meliri spent most of the time describing the beautiful, quiet village to her friend, while Anaiya listened with rapt attention. By the morning of the day the apprentices left to the village for their Test, Anaiya was so wound up from excitement to go that she hadn't slept properly in days and almost missed the whole thing by sleeping in.

"It's kind of scary at first, but don't think about it, close your eyes and you'll be on the other side before you can think '_cat's paw'_." Meliri told her for the tenth time in so many minutes. Both girls were standing in line to go through the teleportation circle that was hovering with ease a foot off the ground in the middle of the Enclave courtyard. Elsey McAllister, a visiting mage from the faraway human city of Stormwind, had been summoned to Darnassus for just this occasion, to create a large portal strong enough to hold the passage of over 25 druids. Only 14 of those druids were apprentices that would be taking the Test. The rest were various proud parents and teachers, and only 3 who were none of the above and wanted to go just to see the druid village.

Those 3 were Anaiya, Meliri, and a male apprentice named Telred. Anaiya couldn't keep her eyes off the shimmering portal, which to her looked vaguely sinister, sometimes flickering in and out of existence. She didn't like arcane magic, feeling vaguely betrayed by it since her inability to successfully cast anything from that school of magic, and its instability made her nervous. To her, the portal did not look very safe at all, and yet each druid before her calmly walked through it with ease, as if it were nothing more then a doorway into another room, instead of a magical rip in dimensions that would send them hurtling into another area of the world. In theory. Or so they had told her.

"How can you tell if its working properly Mel? I don't see any indication that they've arrived safely." Anaiya chewed on her bottom lip fretfully, then mock glared when her friend yanked her arm to break her out of her habit.

"Honestly Ana, I've already told you a thousand times! You were plenty eager to go before you found out that we had to portal there. Wisps abound", she cursed, " how else would we get there in time? Moonglade is hours and hours away on the other side of Felwood." Anaiya had only ever heard Felwood mentioned once or twice and so had no idea where it was in actuality but she still nodded, eyes concentrated fully on the portal as the line got shorter. Then it was Meliri's turn, and with a rueful smile for her friend, Meliri was gone in a wink, vanished through the shimmery essence of the Mage's portal. Anaiya peered sharply into the circle of rippling magic, but caught niether hide nor hair of her friend.

She narrowed her eyes and glanced around for the mage, wondering if indeed something had gone wrong. The mage in question was standing to one side, looking very out of place with long wavy blond hair and a curvy body any female would kill for, and not standing above chest shoulder height of even the smallest of the Elvin females, humans being a short race. The mage was wearing outlandish blue and gold robes with elaborate spell-enhanced shoulder pauldrons and carrying a long diamond tipped staff that sparkled with an inner light. At once Anaiya realized that the mage was giving her a '_anyone home, I don't have all day_' look that she had encountered often in the Temple. Mortified to realize she was just standing in front of the portal staring at the mage, she took a deep breath and stepped right up to it. She could feel the magic humming small vibrations against her skin, and it was not an unpleasant sensation but neither was it a welcoming one.

'_Ok Anaiya, you can do this, come on, Mel is waiting for you! Just close your eyes_'.

Suiting action to word, she did close her eyes, and the queasy shimmering portal was out of her sight. Feeling a bit more confident, she took a deep breath, and stepped through the portal. There was the strangest, most dreadful feeling of being tugged into a million little pieces, of being shoved through a microscopic hole and then repositioned and glued back together, and then in seconds, she landed with a slight stagger on the uneven ground of Moonglade, fervently hoping to herself that all of her parts had been "glued" back on correctly. She had a wiled panicked moment where she thought she had been struck blind before realizing her eyes were still closed. That was how rattled she was by that trip through the portal.

If truth be told, she wasn't sure how she'd make it _back_ through the portal when the time came to leave. She stumbled away from the portal's opening and discovered the disorientation of being spun in circles with your eyes closed. At least that's what the feeling amounted to. It was hard wrapping her brain around the change in surroundings. And speaking of surroundings, Anaiya gave her current situation a cursory glance. There was a strong breeze waving the branches of nearby lofty willow trees. Grass rippled with it, and birds sang to it. The atmosphere had such an oppressive feel of peace and tranquility that immediately the only thing Anaiya could think of was laying down and going to sleep. She was contemplating that very thought when abruptly her elbow was seized and she was spun around to face the grinning countenance of her erstwhile friend.

"You made it! Your alive!" Was the first thing Anaiya blurted out, so happy to see her friend in once piece that she completely pushed the sensation of sleep to the back of her mind, where it lurked like a longtime friend waiting for the right moment to reach out and soothe the frazzled nerves.

Meliri laughed at her expression, her eyes dancing with delight and happiness.

"It has that effect on everyone who first comes here. it's the just the way this place feels. It really is a haven. Careful you don't get too caught up in the feeling though, it can be quite overwhelming. This is the home of the Barrow Dens, where all the really famous druid types are asnooze in their beds in the Emerald Dream. Probably some of it leaks into the area. Come on, we're not even to the village yet, this is the portal site outside the village, they don't like everyone to just traipse through their gardens and suchlike." Anaiya gave herself a shake, feeling slight regret to have that tranquil pacifying feeling fade into the background. She bent down and ran her hands along the grass in wonderment, feeling the thick, rich texture that was nothing like the fields and lawns in Darnassus. This had a wild, chaotic feel to it, a natural sense that no sentient race could hope to achieve. She was startled to see a small deer grazing nearby, with no fear of the group of newcomers congregating on the green.

"Wow, this place is amazing Mel!" Anaiya exclaimed in wonderment. Meliri nodded, then they both took off for the village, eager to explore the many new things that Moonglade offered. As they neared the bridge that led into the village itself, Anaiya slowed, and then stopped, staring ahead at the guards stationed on either side of the bridge.

"Mel? Mel, those aren't druids. I don't even think they're night elves!" In fact she was positive those were definitely not Night Elves. She tugged at Meliri's sleeve, pulling her back. Meliri glanced at her questioningly, then ahead, then blinked in comprehension. "Oh! Hehe, silly Ana, did you think that only the Night Elves were druids? Them Priests had you living under a tree didn't they? Here in Nighthaven, all Druids of all races are allowed to come together. They all work together, learn and study side by side, and face the many threats to the natural world. The Cenarion Circle invites all who fall under Ysera's shadow. In other words Ana dear, those are Horde. Tauren, to be exact! Their super nice though. No don't stare at them, that's rude!"

As she was explaining, Meliri was edging Anaiya along the path to the bridge, and at the word Horde, Anaiya squeaked in fright and turned to give a horrified wild look at the nearest "Tauren" as Meliri called them. They vaguely resembled bulls, both of them, with great curving horns on either side of their head, large, deadly looking hooves, and long tails that swished back and forth. One even had a ring in its nose.

'_Elune's knickers! I didn't think I'd be meeting any Horde here! I hope mother doesn't find out about this.'_

As she passed, the Horde she was staring at turned and gazed at her. In his eyes she saw gentle warmth, the kind of eyes you'd get lost in, wide and chocolate brown and holding wisdom beyond your imagination. Anaiya felt her mouth hanging open and managed to not resemble a shell-shocked guppy fish too much. She bobbed her head in greet at the Tauren to show she meant no disrespect and he shook his mane in mild amusement, as if to say that he'd had that response too many times to let it bother him.

After Anaiya had gotten over her initial shock of finding Horde members just as often as Alliance wandering the paths of Nighthaven, she began to enjoy herself again, although every once in a while she would hesitate when greeted by a young Tauren. So far that was the only race she'd seen, although she had heard rumors of there being a Troll or two in the village. She stuck close to Meliri, who seemed to know where she was going for the most part, and they made their way to the Inn to sign themselves in under the Night Elf party. Apparently there were many new Tauren druids here as well for their own Test. After securing a bed in the overcrowded rooms that were available, Meliri took her downstairs to a small empty table to dine and talk.

The Inn was also crowded with both Night Elves and Tauren, all talking and gesturing and laughing amongst themselves. After a fair amount of time had gone by, and they had finished their meals, the two girls just sat and talked about what they'd do over the next three days. The Test traditionally was a three day trial in which the apprentice druids would prove that were worth the honor of being bestowed with one of the three strengths that most druids were gifted in. One was arcane and nature based magic spells, something Anaiya was confident she was going to avoid at all costs, and was usually referred to as Balance, since these druids concentrating on upholding balance in nature and magic, and were always trying to find new ways to perfect their art. Restoration druids were the healers, some of the strongest healers you could come across, and Moonglade was proud to boast some of the strongest of the "Resto's" as they were nicknamed. Or so Meliri explained.

The third and last category a druid could fall under was Feral. This was the one that Anaiya was eagerly aspiring to, although she also was trained to learn and know all of her abilities. Ferals were laws unto themselves, giving in to their savage inner natures to transform into beasts of great strength and agility, cunning shadow-stalking panthers, and great unstoppable dire bears. Anaiya always acquired such a thrill to hear Meliri tell about it, as she was now at the table.

"May I join you?" At the quiet yet gruff voice, Anaiya jerked her head up from her moon berry juice to see a young female Tauren standing meekly by their table. The female was spotted black and white, with thick black braids that fell over either shoulder to hang halfway to her waist. She wore a tight fitting jerkin that accentuated her animalistic curves, and to Anaiya she looked kind of cute, like an overgrown calf. Which she supposed she was.

Anaiya turned to look a question at Meliri, who shrugged and nodded as if to say 'why not?', and since the cow girl had obviously addressed Anaiya, she gestured to a chair beside her and said "Sure, we're not using that chair." She grinned in a friendly manner. "My name is Anaiya, I'm not here for the test, just visiting." She didn't speak Meliri's name, not knowing if she wanted it known or not, but Meliri didn't seem to have any reservations, and indeed was soon chatting just as quickly with the Tauren girl as she was with Anaiya.

Soon Anaiya learned that the Tauren's name was Bessany Plainswind, and she was here to take her Test. She proudly told them she was planning on becoming initiated into the Restoration community if she passed her Test. Both Elvin girls wished her luck with this, and they settled into companionable silence. After some time, Anaiya became aware of shouting outside the Inn, and a small crowd had gathered at the doorway. Frowning at the disturbance, she hunched over her drink further, not wishing to somehow become caught up in it despite holding a small bit of curiosity.

Unfortunately, Meliri was, as usual, curious about any sort of drama going on around her, and she was demanding both herself and Bessany come with her to check out the disturbance. Anaiya groaned in mock aggravation but couldn't help but admit to some curiosity herself. Every once in a while she'd hear a muffled thud, and then some cheers, and wanted to know what was going on out there. Everyone else in the Inn also had that idea, and it took some time to elbow their way to the front of the group crowding the entrance.

It helped that they had Bessany with them, who just plowed a path through in her steady calm way. Anaiya was beginning to wonder if anything ever bothered a Tauren. She then shuddered at what a Tauren could do if they actually were bothered, and strived to always keep on her toes when around the large cow-like nomads. When she was finally free of the throng of onlookers to get a good look at what was going on, her mouth dropped open in astonishment.

In a loose ring of onlookers, who hastily backpedaled if one of the two got too close, were two beings. One was quite obviously a Night Elf druid in Feral cat form, a dark but vivid blue panther, so dark as to appear almost black. It was quite obvious from here that the druid was female, and she had such grace and speed that it took Anaiya's breath away. The druid had the white crescent moon markings on her shoulder to show her fully initiated into the druidic circle, and she was scuffling quite enthusiastically with a human male wearing all dark brown leathers and a black eye patch over his right eye. He carried two thin and intricate daggers, one in each hand, and both combatants were such a whirlwind of motion that it was hard to follow with the eyes.

They clashed and fought their way around the circle. The druid gave a low snarl of indignation when the man sliced at her tail with a dagger, and turned, claws at the ready to find that he had moved wisely out of reach. Suddenly, she crouched, tail lashing behind her in anticipation. The man eyed her nervously, glanced around, and then crouched himself. Muscles bunched beneath rippling fur and the cat sprung from her place to land artfully behind the man before he had a chance to notice she had even moved.

Her large gold eyes glowed with a wicked inner light as she clamped her mouth around one ankle and yanked hard. The man tumbled to the ground, then back flipped backwards to land on his feet several paces to the left of her, the crowd moving to accommodate this sudden movement. The human then gingerly reached down and felt his ankle, scowled at the cat, and readied himself into a battle stance. He then took a step, pivoted to the right, and suddenly appeared at the cat's side. The cat, who was startled as she was just about to make a move herself, fell back and they ended up circling each other again. This went on for several moments. The cat would dart in, pounce on the man, score claws across his back, or some other easy to reach area, then leap agilely away before he could retaliate. The man was swearing up a storm, was perspiring heavily, and Anaiya could see he was just as successful as the cat, for there was blood on his daggers.

The man was very agile on his feet himself, almost to mirror the cat's movements, and every once in a while, would make a move of his own, dashing with such blinding speed to the side of the cat, and lightly running his blades along her flanks before she even knew he was there. The cat would hiss and growl in anger, and then would pounce on the man. Despite the seeming serious nature of the fight, the man wore a challenging, if playful grin, and the cat's tail was waving breezily in the air, and she had a gleaming, fanged smile on her bewhiskered face.

A ripple in the onlookers heralded a newcomer, a tall Night Elf in a long forest colored robe with a high color, who had intelligent yellow eyes that seemed to frown with exasperation at the two combatants scuffling across the open floor. An elf near Anaiya muttered "why don't they just get a room already," To agreeing chuckles from those nearest him and a bewildered look shared between the three girls standing together. The tall night elf adopted a long suffering, put upon look and strode forward toward the man and cat.

The cat, having noticed the elf coming towards them, flicked her ears in warning to her supposed enemy, and the man quickly sheathed his daggers with a flourish so fanciful that Anaiya couldn't help but giggle. The man stood up straight, pretended to dust himself off, and gave the tall night elf the most innocent expression he could muster, which he'd obviously practiced in front of a mirror because the tall night elf glared threateningly before ruefully shaking his head and smiling. He then crossed his arms and turned his stony glare onto the cat, who was contriving to look as if she was not the center of attention, licking her paws, eyeing her coat for dirt. Upon feeling the night elf's look, she raised her eyes to him and flicked both ears forward.

"What is it this time Verfanas Cloudchaser, hmm? Did he steal your kitty cookies? Drink your milk? You two are impossible! Umber, if you want the woman just say so, and Verfanas, don't you think I don't know your games? You two behave or I'll have you thrown out of Nighthaven…again!"

By this time the man was blushing with embarrassment and the cat was starting to look a bit dark purple herself. Then the names came to Anaiya. She gasped. "Verfanas Cloudchaser? Aunt Ver? Aunt Ver!" She rushed forward, calling out, and the cat turned in a flash, deep gold pupils seeking out whoever was calling her. The crowd, having realized the fun was over, was now dispersing except for a few lingerers. Meliri and Bessany stood watching Anaiya, who was too shocked at seeing her aunt to remember them.

The cat focused on Anaiya, and its eyes swept her from head to toes, before it tossed its head as if laughing. She sat on her haunches, and then closed her eyes and seemed to be concentrating. Within seconds there stood not a cat, but a night elf, in deep, multi-layered purple and wine-red robes, with a long wicked looking polearm slung across her back. The night elf grinned like a maniac and grabbed Anaiya in a hug.

"Yo, little chicklet, what are you doing way out here, beyond your sheltered little tree nest? I'd never have thought your ma would let you go traipsing all over the countryside." She said this with a concerned voice, but had a wide pleased grin, as if the thought of Anaiya doing mischief and running away was something to be proud of.

Anaiya had heard about her aunt, how she had left Darnassus young, wanting to explore the world and have 'grand adventures'. Anaiya's mother always cautioned against behavior like her aunt, who was someone that her mother loved dearly but thought was a little too irresponsible and off the wall to ever settle down and act like a proper member of night elf society. After explaining why she was here (and then explaining why she was training to be a druid), Anaiya introduced Meliri and Bessany.

When Anaiya mentioned the Tauren, her aunt got an even broader grin, and slapped Anaiya on the back so hard she almost fell face first. "that's the spirit, there's nothing wrong with them Horde. Well except that Forsaken have no sense of humor and the Blood Elves are waaaay too stuck up for their own good. But Tauren are the friendliest race of beasties you ever met, and Trolls are darn right funny if you can get past the tusks and thick accents." Most of this was completely beyond Anaiya, who had never met a Forsaken or any other Horde.

Her aunt moved back over to the one-eyed human, and ushered him up to their little group. The human looked around shiftily, then grimaced and adopted a nonchalant, come-hither grin, eyeing Anaiya and Meliri with a knowing smirk, introducing himself as "Umber" of no apparent last name, and then saying he was Aunt Ver's lover. Verfanas smacked his arm and then put her own arm around his shoulders and led the way back to the Inn, feeling she'd said what she needed to. Apparently she was very familiar with Nighthaven.

Most of the congregated elves and Tauren inside the Inn hailed Verfanas and Umber when they walked inside, calling out jokes and catcalls that the two shrugged off with easy indifference. They plunked themselves down at a nearly full table of mixed company, seeming right at home among the rest, who just scooted over to make room for the elf and human. Anaiya and Meliri exchanged glances and then moved back to their previous table. Bessany shifted a hoof nervously before following Anaiya.

"So that's your aunt huh? Strange one _she is. I like her!" That was Meliri of course, not even waiting till they were all seated before bringing it up. _

"Yep, my aunt Ver. Mother doesn't really approve of her, so I only know she loves to get into scraps and will take on just about any mission just to prove she can. She's gathered a reputation in Darnassus as somewhat of a hero after helping to kill Onyxia a couple years back."

Anaiya kept one eye on her aunt and one on the conversation she was having. Watching, she couldn't help but shake her head in mild dismay at her aunt's behavior. Verfanas was now sitting in the lap of a large male tauren, regaling the entire table with what she assumed was some hilarious tale or misadventure about stolen dwarf spirits and a gender-confused gnome. In one hand she held a pint of foaming drink that could only be some type of strong alcohol, and in the other a strange green, hexagonal shaped box that for some reason was the center of the stolen ale story. Anaiya had never seen the like of it before and didn't quite know how to describe the item. She shrugged.

Her aunt always had in her possession some strange things, according to her mother, and most of things were deadly dangerous. Putting her aunt and her bawdy comments out of her mind, she settled back into conversation with her two friends, talking about the next day and the Test.

At the other table, unbeknownst to Anaiya, the small green hexagonal shaped box pulsed a small but intense flash of light, almost like a heartbeat, and then was dim again as her eyes left off gazing at it. No one else noticed except perhaps Verfanas, who shook her hand absently and frowned down at the box, as if wondering how on earth she had come to be holding the small object and what she was going to do with it. Eventually it made its way into her bodice somewhere, and she forgot about it amid further mugs of alcohol.

After a couple more hours of talking, all three young girls admitted they were tired. It had been a long day, and Bessany at least had to begin the first trial in her Test the next day. Anaiya didn't hesitate to say she'd be there to cheer her on, and Meliri agreed as well. They bid each other good night and went off to their beds, leaving Anaiya's Aunt and the human downstairs still going strong.


	3. CH 3: Typical End of the World Drama

Disclaimer: No ownage of WoW or Blizzard. Imagine that...

Anyway, enjoy and review!

* * *

Chapter 3: Typical End of the World Drama

"…And I know that's how you feel as well, so I think it would be in our best interests to stop seeing each other and…broaden our horizons a little bit. Well, what do you say? I don't mean that this is permanent per se, just a little bit of breathing room to get to know other people, give each other a break, that sort of thing." On the fair side of pretty, and knowing it, Keyanomir Sunblade raised lovingly cared for bright blonde eyebrows in a suggestive manner at every passing female, while at the same time appearing to be serious and sincere to his current soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend.

The woman of his dubious attentions, a Blood Elf by the name of Jilanne (he never could remember her last name), kept tapping her foot with a sour expression on her face, as if waiting for a better reason then "we need to broaden our horizons" to break off their relationship. Seeing her less then enthusiastic look, Key fished around his brain, trying to come up with another plausible excuse while coyly eyeing the nearby patrons of the female variety.

Key never noticed the look of frustration and anger that passed over Jilanne's elfin features. Before he could open his mouth to state his cause further, she overrode him with a comment of her own, her first since he was able to corner here at the Inkfeather Inn ten minutes ago.

"That's perfectly alright by me. To be honest, I was looking for just such an excuse to get rid of you anyway. Since you've come up with a reason of your own, I see no reason to continue with this…relationship," she sneered at the word, "and I believe we may go our separate ways. And don't bother contacting me again. I wont be home, I assure you. I've had about enough of your loose ways, don't think I don't know about your affairs."

Key found his mouth was hanging open, and he furiously held aloft one finger that he shook under her upturned nose.

"Now wait just a moment. Are you implying you have a problem with me? That I am not good enough for you, is that it? You don't like me? Got someone better?"

Never mind that just moments ago he was eager to get rid of her, now he was feeling a blow to his manly pride. Jilanne gave a long suffering sigh, shoved his finger out of her face, and stormed off. Keyanomir sniffed loudly, wanting to give the impression that it was he that had had the last word, and wandered over to the serving maid at the counter. He gave her his best sexy smile, and leaned forward on one elbow.

"Hey darlin', how are you?" He waggled his eyebrows at her, and she rolled her eyes. "Why don't you go try that on someone else Key, I know your tricks already, you devil." She shoved his elbow off her counter and turned to address a customer that had approached the bar with an empty mug.

Being snubbed twice in a row might have deterred a normal being, but Keyanomir Sunblade was a Paladin of some fame and knew he was as gorgeous as any girl in Silvermoon. With high cheekbones, light skin that was just a shade paler than healthy, and long blonde hair as soft as feathers, he knew very well how handsome he was, and he knew that most women couldn't resist his good looks or famous charm.

Hoisting his red and gold helmet off the table where he'd been sitting while waiting for Jilanne, he nonchalantly strode out of the Inn, and glanced both ways down the street. The streets of Silvermoon City were usually pretty sedate, especially at this time of night, but you could never be too careful, or at least that's what his instructor had always drilled into his head before an aspiring naga had drilled a spear through his instructor's head.

Now involuntarily free of the service that all Paladins entered into upon gaining acceptance into the order due to the death of his instructor, Keyanomir freelanced his skills and abilities to whoever was willing to pay his fee; and provide pretty ladies of course. He gathered the reins of his war charger from the young boy watching the steed by the Inn's stables, and effortlessly swung into the saddle, starting off down the street toward where he kept his rooms.

Upon arriving at the small rented room near the Bazaar that he'd been living in for the past year, he saw a note tied to the handle. He glanced around automatically, even though he knew whoever left it was long gone by this point. After putting away his horse in its stall around back, he strode up to the door and snatched the neatly rolled scroll from the handle. He opened the door and entered his small home. It wasn't very large, and wasn't very well furnished, not finding a reason to collect things since he was rarely at home, but he liked it nevertheless.

He grabbed a bunch of grapes to snack on and sat down in his favorite divan chair to read the scroll. It went something like this:

"Keyanomir Sunblade,

We have read of your exploits and notoriety in combat on the field, and would be honored to

Acquire your services for the protection and future peace of Silvermoon City and Quel'Thalas.

Should you wish to accept this proposal, you will be outfitted in the weapons and armor you

Need, and will be given a dragonhawk to ride forthwith to the front of the battle in the Ghost-

Lands. We are of course, offering you a sum of 400 strong Thalassian gold for your efforts and

Risk on the city's behalf.

Halduron Brightwing, Ranger General of Silvermoon City"

Key frowned, reading the note over again carefully. To be employed by the city, he mused, could be very profitable, but also sounded dangerous. He knew the Ranger General by reputation only, the close military advisor to the Regent Lord, Lor'themar Theron. He knew the General was a powerful man with a lot of rank among the high nobility of the city. If Key did not accept the proposal (more like demand) to join in the war efforts to keep the Wretched and the various other enemies at bay, then the General had the authority to make his stay in the city very uncomfortable and it would be almost impossible to find work.

Oh he could leave for a couple of months of course, travel to Undercity or Orgrimmar. The Forsaken and Orcs were always willing to pay mercenaries to do their work for them. But there was the matter of having pride in his heritage, to fight for his people and all of those other noble sentiments that he outwardly brushed off but inwardly admired. And of course 400 Thalassian gold coins was quite a tidy reward. He'd have to do some careful thinking on this, weigh the pros and cons of joining in the war effort.

For quite a few years now he'd heard of the battles and skirmishes going on at the borders of Eversong Woods and the Ghostlands, that forbidding, tainted wood that lay beyond Eversong. Silvermoon City had once been a glorious shining empire, proud in bearing and beautiful to behold. With the human king Arthas came devastation, death, and chaos. Now the once shining city was falling to ruins. Half of the city was overwhelmed by the Wretched-Blood Elves who couldn't fight their endless addiction to magic and had mutated into something horrifying to help satisfy their needs.

The city was walled off from the its ruined left half, leaving the Wretched to roam in misery, accosting any passing elf who seemed an easy mark. Out in the woods, the very animals turned against them, becoming vicious and wild, reacting to the fel magic employed by the demons and filth that had attacked the city in that long past battle. The land still bore the scars of that battle, and forever would, rent and torn asunder by the blasphemy. The Armani Troll tribes, sensing the Blood Elves' weakness, had been relentless in their assault on the city, attacking outlying sanctums and towns.

The city was hard pressed to find able bodied men and women who could hold off the encroaching chaos. Key tended to listen into most rumors and gossip he could find, and what he heard about the Ghostlands boded ill for those striving to defend it. It seemed there was a powerful evil force stirring in the southern end of the lands, and every scouting party sent in to investigate the happenings disappeared.

So he could offer his services and help out in the Ghostlands as they so nicely suggested, or he could head out for Undercity and make do with staring at creepy Forsaken women. Forsaken women were not near as fascinating to look at as Blood Elf women.

Or as nice a catch. He grinned. Time to see about finding a quick ride to Ghostlands. He'd go check it out for a few days, kill a few Amani Trolls, and be back in time for the weekend dragonhawk races.

If he was lucky, a few of the elf girlies would be in awe of his battle prowess and he'd be able to make up for Jilanne's disappointment. After sending off short missives to his 'other' love interests (obviously with such skills as he had, there was plenty of him to share), explaining that he'd be away for a few days joining in the battle in Ghostlands, with added flourishes to describe the personal risk and danger he was going into just to keep the ladies at home safe, he damped down the magical lights in the room and went about getting ready for bed.

Getting ready for bed was a ritual of his that he took great pride in. After all, one did not look this good without putting some sort of effort into it. First, he carefully took off his magically-enchanted Paladin armor, enhanced and emboldened with his own special aura of Light so that only he could wear the ensemble. The armor had its own designated hook in a wardrobe that he kept clear of dust with meticulous care. The armor shone radiantly from where it hung, resplendent in golds and reds. His large one-handed sword was hung on two prongs above the armor, a beautifully crafted blade that had been passed down the Sunblade line for generations.

(Or so he told the ladies. In truth, he found it among the spoils of a dragon's hoard a couple of years ago while on a quest for a fair damsel. There was a sword that usually passed down through the generations in every Paladin line, but his father didn't find him responsible enough for the honor of wielding DuskBlood yet.) Never mind that, this blade served his purposes just as easily and looked a fair lot more exotic.

Next, he took out the hair tie that kept his soft hair in a top knot on the top of his head, then brushed it out thoroughly so there would be no crimps or split ends come morning. He so hated his hair to be out of place. It was a blonde so pale as to be almost white, and his complexion was almost as light, which in his opinion made him quite the dashing specimen.

After cleaning his nails, admiring himself in the mirror a few seconds more, and distributing the coins he had leftover from the day's expenses, he turned into bed, and was asleep in seconds.

Key awoke to persistent knocking at his door, the type of knocking that usually comes about from someone knowing it takes quite a lot of patience and determination to keep at it to get their target's attention. He sighed in aggravation, knowing who it was without even having to bother opening the door.

His cousin Kenral Morninglight was always harping on him about his loose views on women, and always seemed to find out one way or another as soon as Key had dumped his latest prize. Although he was still put out over Jilanne's sneering at him yester noon. Oh well, one couldn't help the jealousy of others. The handle on the door rattled a few times before the knocking again commenced.

"I'm coming, I'm coming! Blast it all Kenral, can't you at least wait till a decent hour to come harass me?" His curt demand was delivered as he yanked open the door, and the visitor, one Kenral Morninglight, poised mid knock, slowly lowered his arm and grinned in the annoying fashion early risers tend to do just to make their late night counterparts mad.

Key glared, feeling extremely irritated, and still half asleep. He didn't even bother trying to wake up, as he had every intention of going back to dreamland after his cousin was finished with his lecture. Not waiting for an invite, his cousin strolled into the room, looked around as if seeing it for the first time, and raised an eyebrow at Key. Sighing, Key slammed the door, hoping it woke the neighbors, who were always up late partying, and slumped into the only chair that wasn't piled high with his personal things.

He didn't bother being polite or offering anything to his cousin, he learned long ago that such gestures of hospitality usually just tempted his cousin to stay and avail himself on Key longer.

"I heard about what happened with Jilanne from Kenra. Apparently the poor girl was very distraught. What did you do to her? Light, Kenra was up almost half the night trying to console her." Kenral gave Key a hard penetrating scowl from where he took up residence by the table.

"Your sister would take any excuse to be part of some kind of drama Ken, so don't be whining to me if she kept you up with all her complaining and moaning over Jil. And besides, I tried to be as nice as I could about it. Jil and I were obviously not meant for each other and I thought it best that we get it out in the open as soon as possible before others started getting ideas about us. She's just not the girl for me. I like someone with spirit, who's brave and forward, and knows how to get what she wants. No offense to Jilanne she's really nice in-uh she's a great girl."

He shrugged, ran his hands through his long hair, then glanced scrumptiously in the mirror. Kenral was now tapping his foot.

"Yes yes, I know all about your desires for the 'perfect woman', me and half the female population, but only after your done with them. You need to learn that no one is perfect Key, not even you." He shook his head at Key in despair, as if saying 'why do I bother?', and then sighed loudly when Key was obviously not even paying attention.

"Oh by the way, look what I found on my door yesterday." Key threw the scroll at his cousin dismissively, then went back to smoothing down his hair. He waited for his cousin to read the scroll, all the while fiddling with his hair. When his cousin glanced up from the scroll and opened his mouth to say something, Key nodded cheerfully and said "Yep, old Keyanomir is going off to fight the big bad guys. Don't have to worry about these dastardly morning lectures about girls no more, dad. Shame really, I think I'll miss all the drama that goes on in this family."

Key sniffed and adopted an exaggerated tragic look. Then he brightened.

"On the other hand, I do love a good fight, and I'm getting paid to join in!" He laughed then stood up abruptly. "Ok, I need my beauty sleep, good night." With good byes dispensed, he promptly fell over into bed and went back to snoring.

Later on that day, after making inquiries about Ghostlands, learning what he could, and talking to a messenger of the Ranger General who had mysteriously shown up behind him while he was buying a new set of studs for his gauntlets, Key felt he was sufficiently prepared to face the terrors of the Scourge, Wretched, Trolls, and who knows what else. He purchased supplies that would last him a week just in case things went wrong and, Sunwell forbid, he had to stay longer than he had originally planned, sent a letter to his father stating where he'd be, and then gathered up all his armor and gear and traveling supplies from his house.

After surveying his room one last time to make sure he wasn't missing anything, (he always had this nagging feeling he was forgetting something every time he went traveling), Key found himself at the dragonhawk master in central Silvermoon. The dragonhawk master, who was in fact, a woman (one he knew _very_ well in the past, in fact), gave him a shrewd look, as if questioning his motives with her fine blooded dragonhawks.

She glanced absently at his signed paper from the Ranger General that gave him permission to use the dragonhawks to fly back and forth from Ghostlands as needed, then nodded. Apparently she was trying to ignore him as much as was possible. His war charger he left behind in Silvermoon because transporting the large animal would have been too much of a pain and he got the impression that most of the Rangers there were on foot anyway. Wouldn't do to look too stylish.

Riding a dragonhawk is something one cannot even hope to explain properly. It was like gliding along the wind in as smooth and leisurely a pace as a cloud or a leaf. A dragonhawk was a strong, intelligent creature that the Blood Elves had been breeding for flight for generations.

They came in multitudes of colors, but the most common was a dark shell pink with silver edged wings. Many proud dragonhawk handlers worked in Silvermoon itself, and sold their brood around the world to other Blood Elves in other cities and towns at high prices. Key always preferred riding a dragonhawk to a bat any day. Bats were loud, smelly, ugly, and always had this habit of flapping their wings too quickly, as if afraid that if they stopped for even a second they'd fall out of the air. Maybe they would?

Key spent the somewhat long and boring flight from the city to Tranquillien, the elves' base in Ghostlands, pondering the mechanics of flight and dragonhawks.

Needless to say, it was a really boring ride. Upon landing in Tranquillien, he was immediately accosted by an elf, introduced as Advisor Valwyn, who wanted to know why he was here and what sort of use he was going to be to the Tranquillien defenders. After explaining his arrival and why he was there, and then re-explaining it to a Forsaken who had walked up, Key was then shown into the main domed building across from the small hastily erected Inn. Inside the building the lightening was just as dim as the atmosphere outside, seeing as how it was getting on toward dark.

A Blood Elf stood in the center of the building, hands on her hips with an irate expression, staring down her nose at a Forsaken in intricate black armor, who looked equally harassed and irritated.

"Uh, I'll just come back later then, shall I?" Key said to no one in particular, not wanting to get in the middle of what was either a lover's spat or some sort of long standing quarrel over some battle strategy. At this point, he wasn't sure which was the more valid. As soon as the words had no sooner left his mouth, both persons turned to him and glared. Key gulped, and put on his most winning smile.

"Hi, the Ranger General sent me here to help-"

He was cut off by the blood elf, who overrode him with "We haven't had recent communication with Silvermoon in a couple of days. We are continually under siege from all sides by the Scourge and those blasted Amani Trolls, and now I have rumors of Night Elves landing on our northern shores. How many of you are there, and how do you propose to help?" She gave him an expectant look, and the Forsaken also turned glowing yellow eyes in a decayed face onto him.

Key took a step backward on reflex before he could stop himself, and awkwardly shuffled his feet.

'_Uh oh, this wasn't good. They obviously expected more soldiers than myself_.'

"Ah, you see, I don't know about any armies or battalions of men…and women, being sent here ma'am, sir. I was only instructed to go myself, and offer my services to you, small as they are. I know I can be of help, but I'm afraid I wasn't privy to the knowledge of there being more sent." He licked his lips, then silently chastened himself, licking your lips was a nasty habit that made them chapped and was horrible to look at.

Both the elf and the Forsaken were now staring at him openly, as if not believing him of telling the truth and hoping that if they stared long enough he'd sprout about 100 able soldiers that would willingly fight to the death for them. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, the Forsaken recovered his shock, and went back to glaring at the elf.

"So this is all that your city can muster? One cocky elf boy who cares more of his own image than his people's lands? We need more men! We can't keep holding off the Scourge with supplies running low and morale just as low. What do you suggest we do now? And who knows what Dar'Khan is scheming up in his fortress." Key was feeling a bit affronted by the zombie's obvious dismissal of his many talents and strengths, but didn't want to interfere with the two's argument. The blood elf swung her head around to glare back at the Forsaken, long hair whipping around her neck.

"Are you implying something about my people Mavren? If so, I'd kindly ask you to say it outright, not pandering about with words. And I'd like to point out that this is hardly the conversation to be having in front of said 'cocky elf boy'". Her fel green eyes went right through Key, and he laughed nervously.

"Go offer what help you can to Deathstalker Maltendis, I know he's short on men and would welcome even a blood elf to help relieve the front. Be careful you don't get blood on your pretty armor." She sneered at him, and Key was silently furious but didn't say a word, knowing she was higher rank then him. He didn't relish the idea of it getting back to the General that he was sent packing for giving lip to the head commander in Tranquillien.

He nodded reluctantly, having planned on participating in a few controlled skirmishes to thin the ranks a bit, then heading back to the city. There were always plenty of aspiring heroes to lend aid when needed, and he didn't feel much like being one of them. But he was here now, might as well try to make the best of it. As he stepped out of the building, his long pointed ears caught the argument picking up where it had left off from within. Obviously things in Tranquillien were bad off.

All the elves and forsaken he could see had wary but exhausted expressions, as if they'd been on high alert for too long without any real rest. There was a small pile of broken, bloodied weapons to one side of the Inn, along with a few discarded pieces of armor. An Elvin man stood to one side, hovering over a large cauldron. The fire under the cauldron flickered weakly, licking the sides of the pot.

A couple of withered vegetables sat on the table beside the cauldron, and a large hunk of meat that Key couldn't even begin to recognize lay beside them. Not that he wanted to know what it was anyway. Some things were better off not knowing, especially if he had to be eating it at some point. A ranger sat on the first step of the Inn, a bow at her side and a gleaming dagger in one hand. In the other hand she held a sharpening stone, and was methodically running the dagger over the stone.

A lean looking white wolf sat beside her, tail lashing back and forth and bright yellow eyes observing its surroundings. If anyone walked too close to its mistress it would issue a threatening growl, and stiffen with tension. All in all, Key got the impression that these people had been fighting for a long time with no change or lull to give them time to recover. He tried telling himself not to look into it too deeply but couldn't help feeling…something, some urge to offer what aid he could, to make a difference.

He approached one of the Rangers standing by the road alertly scanning the nearby wilderness. When the Ranger's only acknowledgement of him was a flicker of her glowing green eyes in his direction, Key coughed and said, "Um, excuse me babe, where is Deathstalker Maltendis. I was ordered to report to him for combat duty?"

The Ranger finally turned to look at him, giving him the familiar sort of once over that he usually gave the Elvin women back in the city. He adopted a 'like what you see?' stance, and grinned. The Ranger grimaced and rolled her eyes, then turned and casually pointed to a fairly large tent staked out behind the Inn on a hill. Key followed her outstretched arm with eyes and eyed the tent with a raised eyebrow.

There seemed to be a lot of activity around the tent, both Forsaken and elves alike going to and fro from its entrance flaps. There stood two Forsaken guards on either side of the entrance, both carrying sharp and well used battle axes. Without a word, the Ranger went back to scouting the countryside along the road leading back to Eversong Woods, and Key's grin gradually fell off. "Ok, thanks, nice talking to you." He said sarcastically, and hitched his wrist guards higher on his arms before making for the tent on the hill.

As he approached, the two guards didn't so much as glance at him, but they instantly gave off the same impression that the Ranger's pet wolf displayed at passers by. Key held up both arms in a traditional non threatening move, and explained that the 'elf in the big building' sent him to talk to a Deathstalker Maltendis.

That was all he could say since neither the elf or the Forsaken had given him their names while he was talking to them. The two guards exchanged looks, and the one nodded. The other one abruptly disappeared inside the tent, while the one that had stayed behind casually leaned on his over large axe and went back to his watching, although Key had the distinct impression that the guard was keeping a close eye on him. Within minutes, the other guard was back in his position.

"You can go in now, the Deathstalker will see you." The guard gestured to the tent entrance, and then he too adopted the all encompassing watchfulness that the other was already practicing on nothing in particular. With a nod of thanks, Key nervously edged between the two guards and entered the tent.

This whole set up in Tranquillien was beginning to grate on his nerves. He was used to working alone, going in quickly and efficiently, not having to deal with members of authority, and not used to waiting for others to determine action. It was unsettling to say the least. But he kept reminding himself of that 400 gold, which then reminded him that he forgot to ask how and when he would be paid for this little foray. Inside the tent, the light noticeabley dimmed even further.

There was a fairly tall table situated in the exact center of the tent, not a corner was closer to one side of the tent canvas then the other. Key mused if they had a mage measure out the angles before placing the table. A small oil lantern sat on a corner of the table, and the rest was piled high with papers and scrolls and inkwells and pens. A Forsaken was sitting in a small chair behind the table, dead eyes staring at Key. Another Forsaken stood behind him talking in hushed tones to a male Blood Elf. Key thought with some smugness that the elf was not near as pretty as he himself was.

"Deathstalker Maltendis? Pleased to meet you sir"

Key took the initiative before someone else could say something, stepping up to the table.

"I was commissioned by the Ranger General to aid you in your battle against the Scourge and Wretched forces that's been troubling Tranquillien." He finished, then stood impatiently waiting for a response. The Deathstalker, or who he assumed was him, just sat there staring at him. He said not a word, didn't blink; in fact Key was sure he didn't breath. That last thought almost made him shiver in disgust. The undead had always bothered him in more ways than one. Finally the Forsaken man blinked, a long slow blink that revealed when he closed his "eyes" there appeared to be nothing but black holes in his face. Key hastily switched his gaze to the lantern on the table.

"Yes, I remember reading a recent message about the General sending some help to us. I had gotten the impression, however, that there would be more coming? Perhaps their a bit late?" The man's voice was low and hoarse, as if he'd worn out it out talking to much…or maybe it was just worn out.

Key shrugged, not knowing either way what the General had planned. He supposed it was more then likely that there were others sent other then himself. Then he frowned, wondering if that meant he would have to share his 400 gold. He better not have to.

"I see," said the Deathstalker. He looked Key up and down in a similar way to the Ranger, and this time Key felt a bit mortified and affronted.

"A Paladin I see. Initiated? You'd have to be to be sent out here, yet you don't look very old." The undead man thoughtfully stroked his chin as he mused, which made Key shudder. The sound the pale flesh made when it rubbed together was something altogether akin to hearing nails on a chalkboard.

"Go find some lodging at the Inn, and get some rest. Report directly to me tomorrow at sunrise, I may have a mission that would require someone of your…status." The Deathstalker waved his bony hand toward the tent entrance, then picked up a scroll written in Gutterspeak, the Undead's personal language. Key personally found it fitting that such creatures as the Undead would have a language aptly named Gutterspeak.

Keyanomir wandered over to the Inn, careful to avoid the Ranger who was still lounging on the steps. The wolf growled at him and he amused himself by imagining its fur keeping him warm at night. The Inn was spare and simple, obviously built with the intention of housing multiple persons at one time. There was a small dining area, with a few forsaken and elves crowded around the small round tables, deep in discussion.

A smiling Forsaken woman wiped her hands on her apron as he approached the main counter. When she told him he'd have to pay for a room, he was slightly irritated that he would have to pay for staying in this dangerous backwater village, but finally heaved a discontented sigh and forked over the precious gold.

Too late to back out now, he didn't want to risk being labeled a deserter. Once he had secured a small sleeping alcove to himself, and made sure his belongings were locked in his travel chest and safely stowed under the futon, he went in search of a good meal. Apparently what he saw being cooked up outside the Inn was also being served inside as well, and he learned that this was because their latest supply line had been ambushed half a days travel south along the road while coming through the pass from the eastern Plaguelands.

When the steaming bowl of questionable contents was finally placed in front of him, he was hesitant to taste it, but he was very hungry and the Innkeeper was giving a him a threatening stare, as if daring him to turn his nose up at her best served soup. He gulped down the first spoonful, and despite it being boiling hot, the soup actually wasn't that bad, which astonished him. It could do with a little mild spices to give it a sharp taste, but otherwise it was quite fulfilling. Before long, he was finished, and stared at his empty bowl in bemusement.

Finding he was still hungry, he ordered another bowl, and avoided the Innkeeper's telling look. Although he did refrain from asking what exactly the soup was made of, feeling it safer that he didn't know. After eating his fill, and having a tall glass of spiced mulberry wine, he nosed his way into a dice game that was going on at a neighboring table. The participants didn't seem to mind including him, and he spent the rest of the night playing a game of luck, which he won once and lost four times.

A comradeship developed between him and the dice players, as it always does among men of like minded interests, and soon they were all roaring with laughter, sipping their drinks, and talking about all manner of things. As it got later in the night, the men eventually drifted away to sleep or to their duties, and the ones staying at the Inn bid him good night before they too went on their way. Soon finding himself the last at the table, Key realized he had a slight headache, and foggily wondered how many drinks he had. He sniffed his cup, blinked upon realizing that he'd obviously changed to something a bit stronger then wine as the night wore on, and then staggered up the stairs to his sleeping alcove.

In his inebriated state he almost missed his quarters, and slumped against the wall before tumbling into the alcove. Still, he took his time doing his hair up for the night, although it took much longer then usual considering his inability to concentrate and his hand's strange wobbling. So far, he'd done a lot in just one day, and was rather proud of accomplishing most of his goal in this endeavor. Now he'd just finish up this task the Deathstalker set him to, kindly mention being needed elsewhere, and slip off back to Silvermoon to collect his 400 gold and find a nice pretty girl with curves in all the right places.

He had the strangest dream that there was a night elf with the head of a green dragon babbling to him in some foreign tongue, and trying to braid his hair. He kept swatting the elf away but she would giggle and then point behind her, where a large snow capped mountain loomed in the distance, surrounded by other smaller mountains, all glistening with new fallen snow. That dream faded out to be replaced by another where he sat in a circle with a Tauren, three blurry female figures, and a Forsaken, and all staring at a small hexagonal box sitting in the center.

While studying the box, the most horrible sense of dread and foreboding came over him that he jolted awake with a gasp.

Pale yellow sunlight danced in his eyes from the stained glass window that for some reason had to be situated at just such an angle as to shine directly into the eyes no matter your position. After he'd calmed down, his head started up such a pounding that all thoughts of dreams faded from his mind, along with their content, and he could only groan in agony.

'_Holy Sunwell! What did I drink last night?' _he wondered blearily.

After squeezing his eyes shut and rubbing his temples for a few moments seemed to relieve some of the ache, his head cleared enough to actually register that the sun was shining on him. He blinked, frowned, then darted out of bed so fast he fell on his face, blonde hair falling in disarray.

"Oh no! I'm late! I overslept, I can't believe I overslept. I was supposed to meet with Deathstalker Maltendis this morning_"_

He hurriedly pulled on his underclothes, his tunic and breeches, and then his armor, moving so quickly that his headache was forgotten, for a few moments at least. He caught his hair up into a fetching ponytail that hung between his ears and then snaked down his left shoulder in a shining waterfall.

He glanced in the mirror when finished, tucked an errant strand of hair behind an ear, then hurriedly tramped down the stairs and through the Inn's common room. The Innkeeper glanced up from washing tables, shrugged, and continued on with her morning opening duties.


	4. CH 4: As Luck Would Have It

Hello all, another update for my lovely and dedicated readers. Enjoy, and please forgive for any inconsistancies or spelling errors, I wrote this at 2am after a long day of work, and I have no Beta or anyone to read it over for me. I also did not read it over myself. Anyway, here it is, and review! Reviews make the author happy!

* * *

Chapter 4: As Luck Would Have It

Key attempted to sneak into what was obviously a general meeting about some future mission. The word here is "attempted", as in, it didn't work. He wasn't a rogue. The Deathstalker, (yes the same one from last night unfortunately), pinned him down with an accusing glare the second he stealthily entered the tent and tried to blend into the small group of men and women who were crowded around the table, which caught the attention of the rest of the occupants, all eyes shifting from their leader to the miscreant to dared to appear late.

Key gave a nervous chuckle and waved slightly. He didn't suffer humiliation often but right now he was feeling it all the way to his toes. Sadly, the red embarrassment on his face lit up like a beacon against the pale skin.

"Seeing as how the last member of your team has finally graced us with his presence, I can now explain your mission…again." Maltendis grimaced in obvious anger, still glaring a warning at Key. Key frowned, mouthing 'last member of your team'? to himself.

He didn't like being volunteered for something before he actually had the chance to volunteer. "What I would like you six to accomplish is this: I have just recently gotten eyewitness confirmation of the existence of our glorious city's greatest traitor, Dar'Khan Drathor." There was a ripple of angered and shocked gasps throughout the small tent, although Key was just left wondering who this fellow was. The name did sound vaguely familiar but it escaped him at the moment.

Thankfully he did not have to put his tremendous intellectual powers to work figuring out who this Dar'Khan was, because the Deathstalker was telling the story.

"Hundreds of years ago, as you all know, Arthas the Lich King invaded Eversong Woods and razed Quel'Thalas to the ground! What many of the ordinary citizenry of Silvermoon do not know is that, there was a traitor, an elf of the blackest heart, who deactivated the Elvin Runestones that protected Eversong Woods from all invaders, and invited Arthas to Silvermoon's very doorstep, where he proceeded to slaughter every last elf he could find, and finally desecrating the elves' most sacred creation, the Sunwell for his own perverse goals. This traitor who let Arthas in, Dar'Khan Drathor, was a close friend of our Regent Lord Lor'Themar Theron, and was once a Magister of the Quel'Thalas council."

"No one suspected him of his treachery until it was too late and the Scourge were inside the walls. It was thought that Dar'Khan was killed during the battle for Quel'Thalas but it appears that now we know differently. Apparently he has set himself up as the leader of the Scourge forces in their small festering fortress in the South-West corner of Ghostlands. Slowly he is poisoning our lands, turning the natural way of things into twisted, ugly perversions of nature, just as Arthas and his Lich's did to our city. We cannot allow this to continue! This wound will only grow, like a giant pustule, and must be destroyed immediately if we are to focus our efforts on helping your race be cured of its magic addiction and make it through these dark times. Dar'Khan is a major threat, make no mistake, and must not be taken lightly."

The Deathstalker's somber words fell on utter silence, every member present silent and still as the grave. He shifted, then passed his hand over his face, again setting Key's teeth on edge with that paper rasping sound.

"From what the scout could gather, Dar'Khan's Temple is well guarded by Nerubians, banshees, and wraiths. He has under him 4 lieutenants, of which I have no useful information. I chose each of you because of your unique skills and abilities in combat, and your ability to handle yourself in most situations." Here he frowned at Key, as if thinking that he was exactly the opposite of what the Deathstalker just said. Key scowled back.

He was a Paladin of some renown in Silvermoon for saving many a damsel in distress and for his bravery in battle. (Except don't ask whatshisname, Lord Arendis. It wasn't my fault that I didn't see those giant crazy bats in time.) Key endeavored to look down his nose at his fellow comrades, and succeeded in missing the next piece of the speech the Deathstalker was giving.

"-First light, be ready, gather only things you will need, you travel light. This is a fact-finding mission only. I want to know what is going on, why Dar'Khan is at Deathholme and what kind of threat he poses to us here at Tranquillien. I have alerted the other fortified Sanctums situated around Ghostlands of your quest, and they will aid you should you so need it. Good luck. For the Sunwell!" Everyone chorused back "For the Sunwell!" like a bunch of peeping hawkstriders, in Key's opinion, he darted out of the tent the moment it seemed appropriate, and even the dim unhealthy glow that was supposed to be the sun sent lances of pain through his skull.

'_Ugh, I'm never drinking that much again! Well, at least not for a week or two anyway.'_

He staggered over to a patch of grass that didn't look as infected as the rest, and more fell down then sat down. He gave a brief thought to what he may have missed of Maltendis' explanation, but decided it probably wasn't that important anyway. He caught enough to know they were leaving as soon as you could tell the difference between night and dawn, and he knew it was a dangerous mission, full of risk and bad guys to beat up and undead to interrogate.

He grinned at that. He loved "interrogating". Thinking on it some more, which required more effort then usual, he realized that this whole thing, him being given the note, being sent here, must have been contrived from the start, because what he noticed lacked out here was members of the Holy Order.

There were no Paladins at Tranquillien, and only one priest that he could see. And everyone knew that there was nothing the Undead feared more than a good smiting by Holy magic. He couldn't help but feel himself get a little puffed up at the thought that he was a valuable ally to this expedition, then he pondered over why he was the one chosen.

There were plenty of other, stronger and more experienced Paladins in Silvermoon. Then he wondered if maybe they had declined, which got him thinking about how serious of a risk he actually was taking, which soured his mood, which then made him decide he didn't want to think anymore. He groaned and slumped over on his back, hazy green eyes gazing into the sky.

He spent the rest of the day lounging around Tranquillien, every now and then running some errand that a Ranger or one of the cooks wanted, such as spider legs for some kind of meal (he shuddered at that and vowed to eat some jerky instead that night), or fetching some supplies that were left behind at a scouting site, or as another blade in a quick skirmish against a band of Scourge that had strayed too close to the main road. As the day wore on, he began to get restless, and he could feel the same edgy tension in the air around the small encampment.

It seemed everyone was a bit anxious about this scouting mission, and the commanders were finally looking forward to some hope of a solution to the fighting that had been going on in the Ghostlands for years. All in all it was a lot of pressure on a small group of fighters.

True to his vow to himself, Key did not partake in any drinking or gambling that night, instead choosing to turn in early so that he would be well rested and healed of his hangover by the next morning. He had a feeling he'd need his wits about him come morning.

Strangely he had a dream about a small hexagonal green box that seemed to hold something terrible and wonderful all at once. Quite puzzled, and having the feeling he'd had this dream before, he reached toward the box, but just as fingers closed around the complex locking mechanism on the lid, a Night Elf sprang out of the fog surrounding him and the object, and pounced on him, a look of alarm on her purple features.

He frowned, getting the feeling he knew her, except he made a note to avoid Night Elf girls, they tended to take things too seriously, and had this obsessive "your inferior to me because you are a Blood Elf" attitude that grated on him. Before he could ponder anymore about this, his dream slowly changed to that of a fancy darkened bedroom, complete with a voluptuous blood elf girl was standing by a four poster bed with a coy smile. Grinning, Key forgot all about the previous dream.

As ordered, the Innkeeper awoke him before dawn. She did not look impressed by having to wake him, although she did lift an eyebrow in an interested fashion when she realized he slept in nothing but a pair of short sleeping trousers. Considering she was a Forsaken, Key was still reassured by her look, knowing he was still pleasing to the eye despite his living arrangements of the moment, and felt a stab of regret that he had to immediately get ready and leave.

He spent a few moments on his hair, clasped on his armor with practiced hands, and snatched up his large sword. He strapped it to the harness on his back along with his shield, and strode down the Inn steps. He saw the rest of his small party gathered at the road leading south of Tranquillien, all standing quietly in a huddle, and not making a noise. They were all garbed in battle armor, and had a readiness about them that bespoke of long experience with handling battles.

This reassured Key, as he did not want to be in a group full of clueless recruits. Apparently the leader of this mission was Advisor Valwyn, or Valwyn Sunwing, as the Rangers who knew her called her. As soon as he walked up, Valwyn started in on the outline of the mission, which as far as Key could tell, consisted of: find out why Dar'Khan is in the Ghostlands, find out what happened to the missing scouts, search the area for anything that may prove useful in their fight against the Scourge and its forces, and detail a rough estimation of the forces being mustered and their strengths and weaknesses if possible.

All this to be found out and successfully reported back to Deathstalker Maltendis. Valwyn stressed the importance of their mission being completed successfully, and said that if there was even a chance of one of them making it back, not to mourn the others but come straight back to Tranquillien_._

He found himself nodding in agreement along with the rest of them, thinking that this made sense, although deep down, the noble Paladin side of him protested the thought of leaving anyone behind, beyond hope or not. He agreed with this side wholeheartedly, and determined that he would look after the party members as best he could.

As he thought this, he began analyzing his potential teammates, to best gauge their personalities and behaviors. That was his way of deciding how useful or helpful they would be in a fight, and how they would react to certain things. It was always best to get to better know your party members before embarking on a dangerous mission with them. Physical attributes were by no means a sure way to tell, not even that individual would know what decision they would make in combat, but it was the best he had to work with at the moment.

Closest to him stood two female elfin rogues, identical in every way, down to the armor they wore. _'Cute, wonder if they share…everything' _He idly wondered, eyeing them appreciatively.

They both had deep red-gold hair, almost the color of red wine. Their hair swirled around their elegant ears and down past their shoulders. Both wore thick spiked shoulder pads, dyed black, with matching black tunics and breeches. They each carried a set of daggers on either hip, daggers down their boots, and he could just make out the hilts of more daggers in their cloaks.

Rogues, always had a dagger handy. He was glad these two were on his side. They had about them the air of professional assassins, coolly assessing their surroundings. Each time their eyes met, the would smile at each other, then continue their observations, only half listening to Valwyn. When one of the twins' heads shifted to look the other direction, he caught sight of a scar in the shape of a thin line around her slender neck, and winced in sympathy. That had to have been agony.

He was impressed with her will to survive, and wondered at the story behind the scar. Maybe if he got to know them better, one of them would tell him. He had caught their names at some point in the conversation Valwyn was having: Yasmine and Faradir Thelryn. His assessment of them; the impression he gathered was that they were good in a fight, backed each other up, and were not likely to run if the other was in danger. He nodded, that sounded right to him.

The scowling Forsaken with the glowing yellow eyes slouched behind the twins was Cedric Golthas, a mage. He had the expression of someone who had seen the worst of the world and was unimpressed thus far. Key frowned. The mage he didn't trust to not turn tail at the slightest bit of trouble. He never did trust a forsaken in a fight, and mages always seemed flighty to him, vanishing and reappearing where you least expect them to be.

Valwyn Sunwing, their leader, was a tall, leggy Blood Elf warrior with stunning black hair currently swept up in a simple ponytail. She wore strong looking and efficient armor, dented and scuffed in places, but still sufficient for battle.

Key got the impression that she would be a good leader, and he trusted her guidance. Which was good, considering he had to take orders from her after all. Of course this didn't stop his thoughts from spiraling in a somewhat downward fashion after staring at her for a few minutes. (He was a healthy male after all).

She noticed his look and raised a rather long eyebrow. He grinned cheekily at her and turned to studying their last, and yet most important, companion. The priest who was the party's healer, was a slight woman who stared attentively at Valwyn, now and then nodding absently.

She was very thin, but that was expected considering she was undead. He could see bones and gray material peeking through here and there. She wore a long shimmering blue robe and carried a stout oaken staff topped with a glowing green crystal.

Her sparse twig-like hair was held in place by a simple circlet of worked silver, and inset with a matching green crystal. Her name was Shana, and he didn't know her last name. She was rather pretty, as far as forsaken went, but he wasn't sure how the whole no eyes thing worked for her.

There were studded leather straps crisscrossing her face, covering up her eye sockets. He shivered looking at it. As if on cue, Shana turned her expressionless face toward him, and he had the impression she could see him perfectly clear.

So these were his comrades in arms. Not the most inspiring bunch, but he figured Tranquillien's leaders knew what they were doing when they assembled this scouting party. Just a simple mission right, enter large guarded fortress, find out possible dangerous secrets, count all the bad guys (or make a rough guess) and hightail it home before anyone noticed that hey, those aren't Scourge standing there! Ya right.

Valwyn gave every one of them a last firm look, then turned and headed down the path in a ground eating jog. They set a fast pace throughout the morning, and the sky eventually brightened enough to be called day in this dismal land. All around them they saw signs of the Scourge's corruption of the forest.

Trees grew twisted and bent, seeming to come alive with minds of their own. The animals had an infected yellow color to their coats, and often he saw savage fights among the wildlife for no apparent reason. All this pollution of what was right, turning something pure and good into an evil mockery of itself, disgusted him so deeply that he felt sour bile in his throat.

Eventually he had to stop observing the surroundings, and kept his eyes fixed on the backs of the twins. Which was fine by him, they had fine…backs. Being one of the only members of the party decked out in full plate armor, Key was soon sweating at the exertion. He was grateful that his duties as a freelance paladin allowed him to travel and keep in shape, or he might have humiliated himself by falling behind. Speaking of falling behind, he glanced back to watch the priest, Shana's progress.

The priestess was obviously not used to strenuous activity, and despite her state of undeath, she appeared to be panting, and had a fixed furrow between her eyes, as if concentrating deeply. Thankfully, around midday Valwyn stopped for a short break. They drank from their water skins sparingly and rested their feet. Shana dropped to the ground not far from him and just lay there, obviously trying to recover her stamina. Feeling somewhat sorry for the forsaken, he sat beside her and offered what relief he could.

He channeled a small dose of his holy energy through his hands and placed them on her arm, transferring strength and a small bit of renewal to her spirit. Immediately she straightened, and gave him such a heartfelt grateful expression that he blushed. Which he quickly covered by giving her a trademark grin and eyeing her up and down.

"Keyanomir right? Thank you for what you just did. A cleansing if I'm right, yes? It was much needed. I feel much refreshed. All this running is very tiring. The most exercise I see is from the Inn to the scholar's library." Her smile told him she didn't mind one bit that he had eyed her suggestively, and he was struck by the thought that forsaken women were just like other women and appreciated feeling as if they were worth the looks, even if they wanted nothing more then just that, a look.

After they set off again, he set himself beside Shana, determined to watch out for her. At some point he became aware that they had slowed their pace, and eventually they were all walking, and on a tacit agreement, no one said a word. Not a weapon jingled, and Key was glad he had had the foresight to wrap his sword in cloth before sheathing it that morning. Ahead, a long blackened furrow ripped its way through the ground. He knew this was the Dead Scar, a lasting memento of Arthas' destruction of Quel'Thalas.

This brought a fresh surge of fury from Key, who could not stand wanton disregard for the Light's creations. He felt his Holy power surge, and realized he was starting to glow a golden color. Hastily he calmed himself before anyone could notice. This happened every time he came near to a place that had been desecrated by the Scourge.

It was ingrained into every Paladin to hate the Scourge with a passion that overrode any other instinct. As his eyes followed that blight on the land, it widened and led to a large blackened gate, made of some metal alloy he couldn't name off the top of his head. The gate spanned about 20 paces across, to attach to outcroppings of natural boulder formations that made up the Mountains of Dawn, which was the border between the Ghostlands and the Plaguelands.

This made a very effective fortified area that would be impossible to get into any other way other than the front gate. He gave the whole edifice a quick once over just to confirm this. Above the gate, gray gargoyles wheeled in watchful circles. Valwyn signaled with one hand, and crept behind a nearby large rock formation. The rest of the group silently followed. Key sighed in relief once they were out of view of the black gate. It gave off a threatening aura that he really did not like.

It made his shoulder blades itch as if there was a dagger waiting to be planted between them. He was really starting to regret this, and sincerely wished that he had been smart enough to make himself scarce from Silvermoon when he received the letter. (Being a paladin did not in any way make one a perfect and upstanding member of society that willingly followed their superiors). The group crouched in a circular pattern, and Key squatted along with them, all facing each other with identical grim and pale faces.

None of them liked this. Valwyn glanced behind her, grimaced, and then started explaining their plan in a hurried whisper.

"Okay, this is what we'll do. It appears they have the gate well guarded. There are 4 sentries, 2 on either side. All 4 are wraiths, the souls of poor tortured victims that they have turned to the dark. Wraiths are fairly easy to kill as long as you find their weak spots. I believe that is up to you Yasmine and Faradir. You girls can use your special abilities to get close to them and silence them before they can alert the garrison. Once the sentries are down, we have a few seconds before the gargoyles will circle back to the gate and notice anything amiss. They are rather slow creatures, and as long as we can quickly get inside the gate and out of their sight, they should not notice that the sentries are dead."

The twins grinned at each other eagerly at the chance to kill, and each mirrored each other at reaching into a ring of pouches on their belt, coming out with a small gray packet. They then proceeded to sprinkle what appeared to be dull green powder onto their primary daggers. As they were busy doing this, Valwyn continued.

"Yasmine and Faradir will then keep watch at the gate for any disruptions, and will alert us with a dragonhawk cry if there is trouble. Cedric, I believe you said you are able to cloak yourself in invisibility, I would like you to investigate the camp and come up with a set of numbers for their forces. I want it as accurate as you can make it. Shana, you stay here dear, that fortress is no place for you."

Shana opened her decayed lips to protest but Valwyn waved her to silence.

"You're a priest, and despite being Forsaken, the Scourge will smell your holy aura from a mile off. Besides, your too valuable to risk. If something goes wrong, and Light forbid it does, we will need your skills."

She then switched her gaze to Key, who gulped. "Paladin, you follow me once inside. I know you have mastery of your holy aura and can mask your presence if needed. I think your affinity for the Scourge will be a handy asset inside. We're going to find Dar'Khan's tower and see if we can discover what is going on in Deathholme once and for all, and perhaps if we are lucky, find a way to put a stop to this Scourge infestation of our lands."

Key nodded grudgingly, not liking that his task seemed to bring about the greatest risk. Plus he did not like the idea of leaving Shana out here by herself. There were plenty of roaming Scourge that might pick up her holy scent and find her out. Then he reminded himself that she was a Forsaken, and was likely at least minimally experienced in battle.

Once Valwyn had gone over the plan again, and made sure everyone knew what to do in case something went wrong, she told them all to rest, and sent Yasmine and Faradir to scout the terrain. Once darkness set in, they would strike.


	5. Ch 5: Not What You'd Call Successful

And here is yet another update! Let me know how I did in review please :). This chapter is a bit longer than most because the words just flowed out of me into the computer before I even realized what was happening and the pages just flew by lol. It seems that the longer I write this story, the more it takes on a life of its own and writes itself. Very strange. Disclaimer: I don't own Blizzard or World of Warcraft, although I do play it avidly. (And no I won't say which side I play). Enjoy the story!

* * *

Chapter 5: Not What You Would A Successful Mission

Key did not get any sleep that night, although not from lack of trying. His nerves were stretched taunt and each time he thought he had settled in, some distant night sound would startle him awake; the shriek of a bat, the roar of an angry cat, and the disturbing shuffle-whisper that the Scourge sentries made.

It all brought out in sharp relief the obvious truth that he was far from any sign of civilization with a group of virtual strangers, going on what he had a sinking feeling was going to be a disaster of a mission. Their current place of cover seemed far too exposed in his opinion but he let it be.

After an hour or two, the twin rogues came sauntering back into their little encampment, both grinning ear to ear and looking much too innocent for their own good. He grinned devilishly upon sighting them. They were both of them beautiful young specimens of his race, and being the man that he was, he couldn't help certain…desires, for a pretty red head with skills. One of them, upon noticing his looks as they dutifully reported to Valwyn, turned fully toward him and gave him a large exaggerated wink and a coy smile.

Key raised an elegant eyebrow in response. This could be promising indeed. After they had made their report of their scouting, the two moved in his direction, both with the slow slinky walk of women who knew they looked good. Sleep completely forgotten, Key sat up straighter from the small rock he'd been leaning against. Yep, he did not get one wink of shut eye that night, not that he was complaining any more.

"Paladin! For Sunwell's sake wake up!" A boot nudged Key sharply in the side, then someone shook his shoulder. He frowned and pushed their pawing hands away. Someone slapped his cheek lightly and he opened his eyes with a scowl, ready to tear into whomever dared to awake him.

As soon as his eyes opened he recognized where he was and what he was actually doing out here in the middle of nowhere surrounded by hostile animals and random Scourge minions. A rogue twin, he was sure it was Faradir, was already sitting up beside him, belting on her various knives and throwing daggers.

And there were quite a few she had, to his amazement. Each weapon gleamed with a malevolent green sheen, promising pain and death even if the rogue did not manage to land a fatal blow. He shuddered looking at them. The other twin was already up, fixing her hair back into a tight bun with a thin stiletto.

He had a vague thought on how she was able to do that with such a sharp implement, and how she could be so calm with a deadly weapon seconds away from her scalp, but much about rogues made no sense to him. He preferred a nice obvious frontal assault to sneaking in and stabbing in the back. Clean and honorable. If there was perhaps an underhanded way for him to gain an advantage, well he wasn't above that either, of course. The mage, who he assumed was the owner of the offending boot, was scowling down at him in irritation. As soon as it became obvious that Key was awake and looked to be getting his things ready, the mage stalked off to stand by Valwyn.

"Ladies," Key inclined his head in mock salute to the twins, who glanced at him, glanced at each other, and burst into giggles. He frowned. They glanced at him again, then, in complete synchronization, completely disappeared. Key blinked and looked around. Rogues. He heard invisible giggles off to his right, and an invisible hand pinched his rear, which made him hastily don the rest of his armor and hotfoot it over to the rest of the group, which was gathering on the left side of the sheltering boulder.

Two distinct non-presence's took up space to his left, the mage on his right, and Shana stood off to one side ringing her hands and darting nervous glances among all of them. She was mouthing something to herself that he couldn't quite catch but what he assumed was either a prayer or healing spells. He hoped it was both. Just then a brisk breeze picked up, scattering a blanket of leaves in playful eddies around the boulder and lifting Key's blonde hair in teasing puffs.

"Ok so remember, no one makes a move until Yasmine and Faradir have taken care of the sentries. Once they have been successfully silenced, then Cedric will use his invisibility and mage spells to blink himself into the compound and take care of any Scourge minions who may be lingering close to the entrance. I want this to be clean and organized and efficient. No trouble, no raising of the alarms, no unnecessary killing. Got that? Any further questions?"

After she finished speaking, Valwyn gave them all swift, thorough glances, as if to say 'this is it, either speak up or man up'. Key was feeling distinctly ill each time he glimpsed the high buttresses of the black gate, and he had the sudden, strong urge to turn tail and run till he reached the sea. He did have a question, but chose not to voice it: 'What was the plan if the Scourge sounded the alarm and attacked them?' He really did not think that the six of them could hold off a Scourge army that he was positive numbered at least over 100.

And undead were hard to kill without Holy light. He didn't like the fact that Valwyn wasn't mentioning any back up plan or plan of action should the base become alerted to they're presence. Hopefully she did actually have a plan and just decided not to share it with the rest of them. This whole operation was getting worse by the second, and he severely regretted answering to that letter. Next time an unknown scroll was found tied to his door, he was going to light his fireplace with it and roast some smoked ham over it, High General or no.

He nodded at her along with the rest of the group when she was finished, and she then gave significant looks at Yasmine and Faradir's conspicuous empty spaces. The spaces giggled again, and then suddenly seemed like nothing more then just that, empty spaces. All their giggling was getting on his nerves, did those two rogues not take anything seriously? For that matter, he thought, did any rogue take a battle seriously? They seemed to relish a chance to put their daggers to good use and every rogue he met always met every skirmish with a grin on his or her face. Nevertheless, he soundlessly wished them luck and hoped they came to no harm.

"From now on, no one talks above a whisper, and no one breathes even one word unless it is of the utmost importance. Be ready mage, they are almost to the gate."

Valwyn's warning came out a soft hiss from her new position by the edge of the boulder. She beckoned him and Cedric over to her quickly. Shana, who had been staring at her skimpy robe, took a breath and gave Key a half rotted smile. "Good luck!" She whispered to him as he slunk by on his way to Valwyn's side.

He nodded at her and gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile of his own. Valwyn was eyeing the sky intently, and then her eyes sharply moved to the gate's entrance, where Key could make out the two sentries. There was a moment of suspended action, where it seemed the very air held its breath, and then with a silent woosh, the first sentry collapsed to the ground, a black pool of Wraith fluids. Key grimaced in disgust. He hated Wraiths even more then zombies and Wretched.

He then focused on the second sentry, who had turned with almost a look of puzzlement-if he thought Wraiths had any form of intelligence anyway-to stare at its fallen comrade. Then it turned to the sky, opened its cavernous shadowy mouth, and suddenly collapsed into a second puddle of Wraith goo. There was a brief flash of golden red hair against black leather armor, but that was all he saw of the two rogues. He had to admit that they were clearly experts of the art of assassination.

Valwyn waved a finger silently at the mage, and Cedric's gray face became slightly paler from fear. He gulped and nodded, then waved his hands in a complex manner. A shimmery veil of arcane magic came into being around him, and then with a clap of displaced air, he too disappeared. Although not completely, as Key could now see the mage far ahead, in the black gate's entrance, crouched by the portcullis. The mage was visibly shaking with fear and Key hoped the man kept it together long enough to finish this mission.

Mages were such a finicky lot. The mage glanced out from the shadow of the fortress wall, then waved his hands again and with a blue flash was out of sight once more. That left just him and Valwyn standing there, with Shana no doubt having a nervous breakdown somewhere behind him. Valwyn gripped her two-handed sword across her back, but did not draw it, and began inching away from the cover afforded by the rocky outcropping. She kept her eyes constantly scanning the surrounding area and the skies. Key followed her example, hoisting his shield onto his back and keeping his sword close at hand.

'_Well here goes, hope the gods are watching because I have a feeling we're going to need all the help we can get here._'

With that grim thought, Key crouched low to the ground and scuttled after Valwyn as they slowly made their way across the expanse of barren land that lay in front of the imposing gate. After every step he took, Key internally winced, half expecting an army of Scourge to come barreling out of Deathholme, all heading for him, the intruder who dared to sneak into their impenetrable fortress.

After what seemed like an eternity of constantly shuffling across the Dead Scar at a half crouch, with pauses every few seconds to keep out of the gaze of soaring gargoyles, Key finally felt the shadow of the citadel fall across his brow. Heaving an inner sigh of relief that that part seemed to be over, he leaned back against a protruding rock from the inner gate, while Valwyn inspected the nearest Wraith remains. She muttered to herself as she poked at the grey blob on the ground, but Key didn't bother trying to listen to what she was saying.

Probably just trying to memorize certain aspects of the creatures to help in her report. There was a sound akin to rocks tumbling off to his right, and Key turned sharply, hand instantly at his sword, warily scanning the shadows. Suddenly he heard a giggle off to his left, and glared at the air in a disgusted manner. Once he realized that the noise was not in fact the afore mentioned slavering undead army, he was annoyed with the rogues, who it seemed never took their work seriously and always picked the most inappropriate times to play games.

A lithe feminine shape winked into appearance crouched beside Valwyn, and within a few moments, an identical red haired shape also appeared at the other side of the warrior. Both bent down and started whispering, eyes calmly focused on their target, although their words seemed somewhat urgent. Curious, Key strained his ears to catch what they were saying, but the two kept their voices so low that all he caught was a mention of some sort of gathering inside the citadel, and the undead seemed to be restless and anxious.

'_Great, just what I need'_, thought Key wryly. _'The whole place to be on high alert, just waiting for some morons to come along and knock on the front door._'

Valwyn nodded her head, ponytail bobbing, then told the two to stand guard and if something else were to come to their attention, to give a warning cry to alert her. They agreed on the call of a dragonhawk as a warning, since it would be something easily recognized in this place of silence and death and hopefully would take the Scourge a few moments to realize didn't belong.

Key was quick to point out that this would then alert every other being in the citadel that something was going on, but Valwyn gave him a look and said that if the warning was needed, they would already be found out anyway, or close enough to it that it wouldn't matter at that point anyway. Sobering thought, that. Having been given their orders, the rogues stood and ambled over to him. They both gave him coy grins and he felt himself grinning back, remembering the night before.

"Do be a good boy now, and don't get killed on us will you? We haven't yet decided what we'd like to do with you." One enchanting female said while playing with a strand of his hair. The other one giggled quietly, then they nodded at each other across him, and disappeared before Key could even think up a suitable response.

"Keyanomir! Quite dallying around and get over here!" Valwyn hissed in an irate tone, glaring at him over her shoulder with obvious impatience. With a start he realized that she had already made her way past the portcullis and was nearing the inner gate. Key gulped and glanced upward as he made his way over to Valwyn's side.

He hoped there wouldn't be a problem, because if the Scourge lowered the gates he had a feeling they would be pretty much trapped in here like wisps in a lead-lined flask. Shaking those thoughts aside, he turned and glanced around the inner grounds of Deathholme Citadel. And his eyes widened in shock. The place was enormous. There was a large uneven and winding road that led in either direction from the gate, curving in a wide arch around and out of sight.

He assumed it made a circle of the entire inner grounds of the citadel and met up somewhere in the distance. He wondered how large the keep actually was. To his left a towering dark ziggurats took shape, threatening by its very nature. He shuddered to look at it. Foul and evil things were created in those buildings. He remembered a mission that required him to gain entrance to a ziggurat once to fetch a powerful arcane book for a mage who for some reason couldn't go himself.

His inner Paladin nature surged to the forefront at the sight of the malevolent building, and he concentrated on keeping in his holy aura so as not to betray their position. The urge to eradicate all Scourge forces was so strong that he tried not to linger too long on anything, and thus his eyes flitted about, taking in each new horror. Scores of undead Nerubians crawled the grounds, long spindly legs waving in feeling around them as they walked, patrolling across the roads.

He caught sight of the billowing white dresses that could only belong to Banshees as they prowled around the ziggurats, apparently waiting for orders, or maybe just mindlessly wandering. He never credited the Scourge with much intelligence. Here and there he counted human Necromancers, each one accompanied by a large blue Voidwalker or a stiff-legged skeleton minion. _'How in the Light were they going to sneak into this place?' _He wondered in dismay and shock after he'd gotten a good look at the inside.

It was a hive of scourge activity and he felt like saying "Good luck with that, let me know how it turns out" and hightailing it out of there faster then you could say Goblin Jumper Cables, but despite being a Blood Elf, he was a Paladin, and had sworn oaths of obedience. Not to mention he did have some honor.

"Have any ideas?" He hissed to Valwyn beside him. She turned and frowned at him, then put a finger to her lips, and motioned her hand toward the ground. He scowled, then huddled in close to her, their heads almost hitting they were so close.

"They seem to be patrolling the roads and are not doing a very good job of it at that. Obviously the citadel hasn't seen any excitement in some time, so they won't be expecting us. We'll stay along the inner wall as long as we can so we keep our bearing. My goal is to get inside that central tower there," She pointed at said tower, a squat ugly building that could only be classified as a tower because it stood one story higher then the rest of the large black buildings.

"I think we can safely say that Dar'Khan has set himself up in that tower. We should find some valuable information in that tower." Key eyed the tower skeptically, then raised an eyebrow at the warrior. "So, you want us to just stroll through about a thousand Scourge, give or take another thousand, make our merry way into that tower, that veritably screams "Evil forces are at work here, enter and find death", just magically find some incriminating papers lying about, and waltz right back out the front door, where we would again skip our merry way through throngs of Scourge?"

He took a breath, letting his feelings out in one rush. "And you think that Dar'Khan's just going to let us get away with that? There's a high chance that he's going to be in the tower and I for one don't feel like being tortured to a slow death and then resurrected as a mindless drooling slave. I doubt my looks would survive the change". Valwyn glared at him.

"Well do you have any better ideas? Look at those Scourge, they are preparing for battle. Even with the forces they have, they should know it would be a close battle, and you should know that they always play to win, so there's obviously something else going on here, and we need to find out what. They must have some trick or secret power up their sleeves that they're hiding until the right moment. We need to find out what that is before they attack Tranquillien!"

She gave him a 'Me commander, you minion' look, and jerked her head in the direction of the tower, where the obviously agitated Scourge were milling about aimlessly. "Besides I'm pretty sure these Scourge fodder wouldn't recognize us even if they saw us. Just act like you belong here and they should just ignore our presence." Key rolled his eyes, but finally gave in. What was the use anyway, he was already inside, already committed to this foolhardy plan. And it was looking more and more foolish by the second.

What he couldn't understand is why the rogues couldn't just sneak inside the tower and find out what was going on. They had the advantage of being invisible. But then he actually imagined them accomplishing that, and all he could picture were two giggling shadows stealthy following the Scourge leader around his study for hours, and knew that the rogues, as adept as they were at the art of assassination and stealth, just didn't have the cunning and attention span required.

He set off around the wall of the citadel, systematically scanning the area to make sure no scourge spotted his swift subtle movements. Thankfully there was a lot of undergrowth since the Scourge hadn't bothered with clearing the area properly before taking up shop. He and Valwyn made their way from scraggly bush to skimpy tree, inching their way around the wall until they found the best point to access the tower from. Finally Key felt they'd find no better path to the tower.

From where he was now crouched behind a mageroyal bush, he had a nice close view of the back entrance to the tower, and there seemed to be fewer scourge milling about as well. Placing an aura of protection around himself and Valwyn, he pointed ahead toward the tower, and she scrutinized the zone carefully before nodding in agreement. This seemed like the most likely of paths. They both left the bushes and darted behind a towering black ziggurat as a Nerubian scuttled past, making a high keening noise.

Key's holy power surged at the sound and he hastily clamped a mental lid on the powers before they overwhelmed him and he rushed headlong into them casting seals and judgments. Being around so many Scourge was going to drive him crazy. Already he had a pulsing headache from holding back his magic.

Easy for Valwyn, who had not a magic bone in her body except for her fel green eyes that signified her addiction to the stuff. After what seemed an eternity, they came within reach of the tower, and with a last look around the shadows lingering outside, Key followed Valwyn into the dark interior. Before being swallowed up in the blackness, Key had a sense of uneasy foreboding, as if something very bad was about to happen. Swallowing against a dry throat, he pushed the uneasy feeling aside.

Inside the tower was almost pitch black, and if not for the innate holy energy of his calling, Key would have been struck blind and bumbling for hours. He carefully allowed a small golden glow to surround him and give off a soft light, just enough to see a few feet in front of him. Valwyn was standing almost immediately to his left, having stopped as soon as she realized how encompassing the darkness was. Neither spoke, but with a glance, Valwyn let him know he was to go first.

_'Now I'm a living night light, great'_, he thought with some amusement as he forged ahead.

Having no sense of how this tower was arranged, he kept left, always taking left turns or left doorways when presented, in order to keep track of the way back. After a time he became aware of the darkness gradually lifting to a subtle gray twilight, and could after a time even see Valwyn without his Holy light. So he cancelled out the shield of holy light to conserve his magic, and Valwyn again took the lead. Suddenly the current corridor opened up into a domed spacious room, spans across and wide.

He blinked, trying to dispel the sun dots in front of his eyes at the brightness of the room. As soon as they had stepped over the threshold a thousand candles had lit themselves around the room, throwing light on a most impressive chamber. Grand tapestries lined the turreted walls, each depicting a different battle, but all holding some gruesome and bloody tale.

Tall candelabras were situated down a thin carpeted walkway that ran the center of the chamber up to the far wall, where there sat a large stone alter, carved out of a thick black metal that Key couldn't recognize, not having any knowledge in the smithing arts. Behind the altar was a brazier lit with dancing blue and green flames, each flame seeming its own entity that grasped for the edge of the brazier but could never quite reach. All in all, the sight was rather daunting, and Key found himself openly staring with wide eyes.

There was such an air of malice, of palpable evil, to the room, that he half expected to see the Lich King himself walk in. Swallowing nervously, he glanced behind him at the doorway, and started to realize there were obscure runes carved along the inside of the arch, moving in a thin neat ling from one side to carve up and over the door along the other side. The runes were pulsing with a fierce white light, and he didn't like that one bit.

"Valwyn? I don't like the look of these runes here. I have a feeling that they usually shouldn't be glowing. Maybe we should-"

He turned at Valwyn's startled gasp, only to find to his dismay that while he was observing the runes, the warrior had made her way across the chamber and was now standing in front of the altar. She had her head bent down and seemed to be inspecting some objects on the altar. Key gave a lingering suspicious glare to the runes, then determinedly marched up the aisle to where Valwyn stood. "Valwyn? Were you even listening to me? I don't think it's a good idea to be in here.

This is probably some sort of sacrificial chamber and I think those runes are a magical warning." Valwyn still wasn't listening, he could tell, so he grabbed the blood coated dagger she was fiddling with out of one hand, and a sheaf of parchment out of the other, and slammed them down on the altar.

"Valwyn! We need to get out of here!" He said in an impatient growl. His nerves were standing on end and he had the urge to get far, far away from this evil chamber. Valwyn glared at him and snatched back the papers.

"I think I found something here. It mentions two extraordinary stones with the power of destruction and creation. They're called the Stones of Flame and Light. Someone named Masophet the Black states here that these stones house the key to Dar'Khan's weakness, and they hold untold powers of destruction if used for ill." She tapped her lips with one thin finger, clearly musing over this information with no sense of urgency whatsoever. Key was now getting an edgy spidery feeling along the nape of his neck, as though he was being watched, and his magical holy powers, always able to sense nearby undead, was beating at the back of his thoughts, screaming a warning so loudly that it was hard to think.

"I don't bloody care about some Mass ferrets or whatever you were going on about, and yes some stones sound nice and important, but how about we just grab these papers and read them in a much more convenient location? I'm getting a really bad feeling about this and I think its high time we get the hell out of here before-"

Before he could finish his sentence, several things suddenly happened at once. Into the utter stillness that characterized the chamber came the distant, but unmistakable cry of a dragonhawk, which, distracted as he was, took several seconds to recognize.

He gasped, frozen for precious moments, and it was at that moment that all the candles in the chamber winked out of existence and the entire room was plunged into utter and absolute darkness. The only light to be seen was the fierce angry white runes, still pulsing above the doorway.

And from beneath those runes entered a tall, thin blood elf with disturbing pale grey skin and a long black robe that trailed on the floor. The elf was holding a long ornate wand topped by a black skull, and had the most evil exultant smile on his face that Key had ever seen.

His heart sank deep into his stomach with dread and he took a step back, fetching up against the altar's cold unmoving stone. He knew as soon as he'd laid eyes on the sneering elf that he was looking at the citadel's dark leader; Dar'Khan. As the elf moved away from the entrance, the inky blackness of the chamber swallowed him up, and Key lost track of him in the darkness. He blindly reached out to where he assumed Valwyn had been standing, and thought his knuckles brushed against her scale armor.

He heard a feminine gasp of fear and she moved out of his grasp before he could get a better hold on her. He almost growled in frustration. Not good, not good. He stood up straight and held his breath, straining to see into the blackness around him. Off to his left he could have sworn he'd heard the swish of cloth against stone, but now there was nothing. He wiped clammy hands on his breeches, and shuffled to the right, keeping the altar behind him as a focal point.

Ahead, he could still make out the runes, and knew that as soon as he could get a hold of Valwyn that's where he was headed. From out of nowhere a hand slapped against shoulder, withdrew, then hesitantly felt out again. Sure that this had to be Valwyn because he doubted a diabolical, powerful necromancer would not be tentatively feeling his way through a dark scary chamber, he latched onto the hand and yanked the person to his side.

Sure enough, he heard her familiar gasp again. Determined, he yanked her along behind him as he hastily made for the exit, thinking smugly to himself that he just knew something bad was going to happen, something bad always happened on missions like this, and if Valwyn had only _listened _to him when he'd warned her, they would have been long gone before Dar'Khan's overly dramatic entrance.

Just five yards from the door, with the white runes, light almost blinding his sight in the darkness, he was suddenly jerked to a stop, and lost his hold on Valwyn with the suddenness of her pulling away.

"Valwyn, what…?" He spun around to grab her again and froze, staring in numb horror at the blade protruding from her chest. Her eyes were on him, wide and pleading, with a tear glistening at the edge. She had hold of the papers in one hand, while the other hand shakily crept up to feel the blade that had punched through her armor like butter.

Key swallowed, and slowly his eyes moved behind her, to see wicked green eyes staring back, painful in their foul misery. The blade was retracted and Valwyn pitched forward into Key's arms. He held her close to him and began backing toward the door, still staring into those malevolent green eyes. The black-robed elf, owner to the eyes, lifted the dagger for inspection, then flicked out a tongue and licked along the blade's length.

Bright red blood shone eerily in the rune's light. Key was trembling almost as badly as he could feel Valwyn was, as he backed into the corridor, mind completely blank of everything except a resounding "GET OUT!" He swept the warrior up into his arms, where she hung there limply, small shivers his only indication that she still lived, and dashed blindly down the hall.

Thankful that he had kept such a close eye to the direction they took, he flung himself down the hallways, twisting around turns so fast he was amazed he hadn't run into any walls yet. Behind him, he could almost feel the elf's twisted aura following, and gaining. Seeing light ahead, he surged forward with a last burst of strength and dashed out into the open air of the citadel grounds. By this time he was panting from exertion of running while carrying another fully armored person, but adrenaline was still coursing through him and he glanced around wildly.

Around him utter chaos reigned and his jaw dropped in shock. For reasons he couldn't fathom, the Scourge was pouring over each other like silithids from a kicked hive, tearing and snarling at each other in obvious crazed rage.

"What in the name of Kael'thas?" Key could not believe what he was seeing.

"Keyanomir." He started and glanced down at Valwyn, who had blood leaking out of her mouth. Her eyes were squeezed shut in pain and she took shallow pants.

"Don't talk Valwyn, for some reason the whole place has gone crazy, should be easy to get out of here. We'll just get to Shana, I'm sure she can heal this…she'd better heal this." He determinedly did not look at her wound, and instead stared off at the gate.

He took a coupe of steps in that direction, but stopped when Valwyn started struggling to get down.

"Put me down Paladin, now. I know when a wound is fatal, and even if it wasn't this blade is tainted with a powerful poison; I can feel it. I need to tell you something important." Her sharp words pulled him up short and he blinked at her, torn. His insides curled in dismay at her words, and he shook his head in denial. "No, damn it Valwyn, you're a warrior, pull yourself together. Light, now I wish I had learned some healing spells!" She continued staring steadily at him.

He glanced around, feeling utterly lost and out of control, then in resignation set their leader down on the last step of the tower.

"Now what? What did you have to tell me that was so blasted important?" He pushed blood encrusted fingers through his hair, then grimaced as a distant image of his beautiful hair covered in gunk came to him. Valwyn reached up her trembling hand and held out the papers to him.

"Here, take these. They explain everything, why Dar'Khan is here of all places, how he was resurrected, why he betrayed us to Arthas all those years ago, everything! There are plans for an attack on Tranquillien, and plans to use powerful stones to force his way into Silvermoon City itself! He must be stopped Keyanomir! You must get this to Auriferous and Mavren, and tell them what you've seen here. It is of the utmost importance."

Key opened his mouth to protest when Valwyn's eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped to the steps. Shakily he felt her slender throat and after several minutes took a deep breath and stood up. Suddenly he heard the dragonhawk cry sound again, and he swung his head toward the gate, squinting in the hazy twilight.

He could just make out the telltale shining red hair of the twins, and realized they were fighting off scourge at the inner gate, keeping the way clear for their comrades inside. As he watched, one rogue staggered and fell backward, but before she could be overwhelmed by oncoming Scourge, her twin was there protecting her and helping her back to her feet. Not willing to leave Valwyn's body for Dar'Khan's evil designs, he scooped up her unmoving body and headed for the gate, for freedom.

He noticed that, with a sudden flash of purple arcane light, the mage had also joined the twins in holding off the scourge. Despite the mage's obvious expression of outright terror, Key could see that every so often a fireball or frostbolt would streak into the masses, holding them at bay for precious more moments.

"We'll get out of here yet," He said reassuringly, although he wasn't sure who he was saying it to, himself or Valwyn's lifeless body. To his everlasting regret, Key was so focused on getting to the gate that he completely forgot about Dar'Khan. His undead sensing magic was so far off the radar with all the Scourge around him that he gave not a thought to the warning thrumming through his skull, and so was completely unprepared for what happened next.

One second he was staggering forward under Valwyn's dead weight, heading for the promised freedom of the gate, the next he was pitching forward, unaware of anything except a lancing fiery pain in his side, so painfully all consuming that it sucked all thought, all speech. In utter and detached shock he rolled onto his back and dazedly blinked, staring at bright stars that dotted his vision. This pain he felt was like nothing he could ever describe, it burned and froze all at once.

After the initial burst of pain had died to a strange dull throb, he gathered his dazed senses and tried to determine what had happened. Placing a hand to his side, he felt his fingers quickly become soaked with liquid, and dread curled inside him, making it hard to breathe. He brought his fingers to his eyes and stared at the red digits. This just wasn't happening. This couldn't be right. What was going on? His eyes traveled past his hand and landed on the sneering twisted visage of Dar'Khan.

The elf was standing a few feet away, casually standing with a curious, delighted look on his face, staring fixedly at his dagger. The man was obviously off the deep end. It took Key a few extra minutes to understand that he'd been stabbed and that was his blood on the dagger, along with Valwyn's. Dar'Khan turned a smug, sick smirk onto Key, then roved over Valwyn's still body. A surge of furious vengeance raced through Key's veins, taking him by surprise, and he painfully staggered to his feet.

The tearing searing agony in side screamed along his nerve endings, but he forcibly ignored the pain, instead reaching for his sword in almost feverish haste. Dar'Khan, who had been watching him as if he was an interesting specimen in a lab, narrowed his eyes.

"H-how dare you, you filthy…" Key coughed convulsively, and the pain almost overwhelmed him. Dimly he knew he needed to get to the gate if he had any hope of surviving, and he needed to make sure those papers made it to Tranquillien, but a much larger side of himself, his suppressed Paladin side, was screaming for vengeance, for payback, for the chance to smite down this blight that had no right to exist.

Here this undead creature stood mocking him, had actually harmed him, and no way in Hellfire was Key letting that pass. He stepped forward, gritting his teeth against the flaming agony that seemed to be taking over his body inch by inch. When he almost fell, Dar'Khan seemed to have recovered himself and not thought the Paladin a threat, for he just stood there with a sadistic grin on his face. This made Key try harder, and he took short shallow breaths to give himself the strength to stand.

He shrugged his shield off his shoulder and carelessly held it in his free hand, not even trying to use it to shield himself, thinking only of cleaving Dar'Khan's head in. Calling upon his paladin training, he used holy power to infuse his weapon, to infuse himself, and he started to glow a soft but far reaching gold. Dar'Khan's smirk slowly fell off his face and he backed up a step. Key grinned, a feral grin that he wasn't even aware of, lost as he was to his paladin magic. He could barely feel anything other then the icy hot pain that clawed his insides.

With every last ounce of effort, he took one last step in the dark elf's direction, and cast his most powerful spell, a glowing magical shield of pure undulated Light shot out from his shield, so blindingly bright that he had to close his eyes from the brilliance. Which he regretted because instantly he was hit by a wave of dizziness so powerful that he moaned and slumped sideways. Ahead of him, he heard an inhumane shriek of outrage and pain, and felt grim satisfaction in knowing that he had at least hit the evil necromancer.

Whether he had killed the elf or not, he didn't care to know. He had to get out of here before he lacked the strength to even try. Fighting off dizziness and feeling severely sick, he clambered back to his feet out of sheer will power, and dazedly cast around for Valwyn. The Scourge, having sensed that he wasn't one of them, were now reaching for him and he found himself trying to stave off wraiths and banshees while searching for Valwyn's body. He was determined that she would get out of here as well. He spied her body lying innocently a few feet away and stumbled to her side.

A Nerubian charged him right as he reached her side and he spared a few precious seconds to dispatching with his sword. Not being able to carry Valwyn and his sword at the same time, he hesitated before grimly sheathing is weapon. His whole body screamed in protest when he bent to pick her up, but he grit his teeth and carried on, forcing the pain to the back of his mind with visions of the gate. Fewer Scourge surrounded him now, as it seemed they were all headed to the gate to prevent escape.

When the gate actually did loom in his vision, he blinked in amazement, not being able to understand how he'd gotten that far. He caught sight of one of the twins, Yasmine he thought absently, right as she happened to glance his way. Her eyes widened and her face lost all color, and she yelled something to her sister Faradir. The other twin glanced sharply in his direction as well, and then they both fought harder, mouths grim lines. The Scourge poured over them in black waves, but the rogues were indeed skilled combatants and managed to keep the undead at bay.

A small circle of cooling enemy bodies began to collect around their dancing forms. Their blades danced and whirled among the Scourge, and many fell to their combined blades as they wove a path of deadly force toward Key. Seeing salvation coming, Key felt such relief that he almost passed out right there. Firming his resolve, he staggered forward, Valwyn's body a leaden weight in his arms. Finally he came abreast of the twins and they kept the Scourge back from the gate, while Cedric shot warning fireballs to any that came too close.

By now the Scourge were becoming wary of getting too close to them, but were clearly unwilling to just let the invaders get away. Key coughed again, and tasted copper in his mouth. His vision swam in and out of focus, and he could barely form a coherent thought. He could no longer feel the pain in his side, and wondered absently if that was a good or a bad sign. Probably bad. Once past the first inner gate, Faradir called something to the mage, who nodded at her, and cast a quick fire blast at the rope mechanic holding the gate open.

With a loud clang, the gears shifted, and the heavy black gate came crashing down a hairs breadth from Yasmine's hand. She turned and gave him a scorching glare, but didn't protest, instead jumping back from the gate. Scourge swarmed the gate, poking weapons or clawing hands through the interlocking steel holes, trying desperately to get at the interlopers.

Faradir was giving Key worried glances as she helped him reach the outer gate, but he was too focused on keeping his feet under him to talk, not that he thought he'd have the breath. Yasmine had blood streaked across her forehead and she ran with a limp, and Cedric was missing fingers on his left hand.

In a stumbling, shambling run, they escaped the last portcullis and painstakingly crossed the Dead Scar to the sheltering boulder where it seemed eons ago Key had spent the night within the blissful arms of the two rogues. A screech was their only warning before they were suddenly set upon by ravening gargoyles.

Wings buffeted Key sharply about the head and shoulders, and he slumped forward, completely exhausted and shaking with numb iciness. His fingers felt so cold as he rubbed at his head, feeling as if there were rocks grinding together in his mind. Above and around him, he could feel his party members fighting off the flying stone creatures, but try as he might, he could not make his body obey his command to get up and help.

Muscles twitched and convulsed uselessly.

He thought he glimpsed shana's telltale gray face with the eerie yellow eyes casting golden yellow light around the twins, but he couldn't be certain.

With a last shudder, he slid blessedly into unconsciousness.


	6. Ch 6: Well, What a Nightmare That Was

Thank you all for the lovely reviews! I apologize for the lateness of this chapter, but I was having trouble forming it in my mind. I hope it turns out okay because it sounded better while I was acting it out in my head on my way to work...Anyway read and enjoy! And as always, review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Blizzard or World of Warcraft, I only pay mass quantities of money to them. :)

* * *

Chapter 6: Well, What a Nightmare that was

Anaiya and Meliri sat idly at a candlelit table in the Inn's common room, waiting on the results of Bessany's first Trial. After they found out they weren't allowed to view a Trial from the Horde, both of them had decided they would kill time wandering around Moonglade while they waited.

That morning Anaiya had seen so many new and unusual things that it was all a bit hard to take in at once. She'd been to pay her respects to the Barrow Dens, where the noble Druids slept in the Emerald Dream, their penance to Ysera the Dragon Aspect. She had also found that was a hippogryph stable nearby, although not in Nighthaven itself, but down the path a ways. She'd never actually had the chance to ride one of the majestic creatures but had heard them mentioned in conversation from time to time.

Hippogryphs were powerful magical beings with almost sentient intelligence, certainly more than a common animal. They were proud beasts who had served the Night Elves for generations, as far back as any living elf could remember. They had also fought with the elves in the battle for Mount Hyjal. When they had visited the hippogryph master Meliri had asked a dozen questions as per usual, and then had been brave enough to actually step up to one of the avian and pet it.

She'd urged Anaiya to do the same but Anaiya just couldn't bring herself to get close enough to those sharp talons and curved beak, despite the creature's seeming docility. After spending some time at the hippogryph stables, the two girls and continued on down the path, where Mel had said the underground path to Felwood and Winterspring lay. Anaiya had the desire to visit those places one day when she was stronger and had learned enough to survive in the wilds on her own.

They had walked a circle around Moonglade, taking their time since they knew the Trial would last most of the day. Around late afternoon, as they were just returning to Nighthaven, they encountered Anaiya's Aunt, who was annoyed at not being able to find the two in the village. After giving each of them a long woven cloak (which is what she had been trying to track them down for, seeing as they were hardly outfitted for going out of doors according to the older druid), Verfanas and then been waylaid by her human companion and the two had dashed off somewhere to more then likely cause some sort of trouble.

And that led Anaiya and Meliri to be sitting at the table in the Inn. Anaiya was a bit worn out from her walk around the area, and didn't feel like doing anything else until Bessany showed up. Meliri was fine with that, and had pulled a textbook out of somewhere to catch up on some of her studies.

"I passed."

At the quiet comment from behind her chair, Anaiya very nearly shrieked and jumped in the air.

She turned her head sharply and saw Bessany slowly walking up to their allotted table. The Tauren sat down in one of the vacant chairs between the two elves, neatly tucking her tail along her side as she did so. Meliri looked up immediately and grinned.

"Congratulations Bess! See what did I tell you? So now your officially a trainee in the Restoration specialization right?" Anaiya leaned forward eagerly as she asked this, wanting to know all she could about the class she had decided on. Bessany paused, then nodded, her large chocolate eyes twinkling.

"Yes, and its wonderful. Watch!" She stood up abruptly again, and moved her hands to about mid chest. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and whispered something that brought a picture to Anaiya's mind of a clear autumn day with brightly colored leaves gracefully fluttering to the ground.

She was still pondering this when she suddenly had such a strange shivery feeling move all through her body. It was so utterly alien, but at the same time felt divinely wonderful. Her eyes widened in amazement as she felt herself invigorated and refreshed, as if she had not just walked the many miles around Moonglade earlier. Her muscles were renewed and she unconsciously stood straighter with brighter more alert eyes.

_Wow, _she mouthed to Meliri, who was eyeing her curiously. Then the other elf nodded in understanding and patted Bessany on the shoulder, reaching up a ways in order to compensate for the added height the Tauren had on her.

"Healing Touch right Bess? I had that spell cast on me a couple of months ago when I fell out of the second story window at the Enclave." Bessany nodded happily, sitting back down. Anaiya gave Meliri a raised eyebrow.

"You fell out of the window? How'd that happen? I thought druids were supposed to be agile and swift and all that. I can't believe you fell out of a window!" She snickered quietly. Meliri crossed her arms and scowled.

"Well it wasn't my fault. I was just sitting there minding my own business studying in one of the council rooms, watching the wisps play when mister high and mighty Archdruid Staghelm happened to walk by the room. Apparently he took offense to my "cluttering up the room with my untidy nature and chaotic energies" He startled me so badly I lost my grip on the window ledge and next thing I knew I was flat on my back on the ground. I wasn't hurt _that_ badly but the Druids thought that I should get a Healing just in case. That guy is a serious son of a -" She snapped her mouth shut when her eyes flickered to the side, looking embarrassed.

Verfanas had just walked up to their table. As always her human shadow wasn't far behind. Verfanas grinned.

"Don't stop on my account. I love a good cussing. Sides that dried up old crab apple deserves it."

She settled herself down in the last vacant chair, carelessly tossing her polearm onto the floor at her feet, where a passing serving maid nearly tripped over it. Verfanas reached into the folds of her multi layered robes and pulled out a small hexagonal object.

With a start Anaiya recognized it as the box from the night before. She gave her aunt a questioning look. Her aunt shrugged and placed the box on the table for everyone to look at. It sparkled as if lit from within.

"So, any of you kids have any idea what this is? You're all good academic types right? You study, do your homework, listen to your Trainer? Did you come across anything that might fit this description or maybe something similar?"

She pointed an accusing finger at the innocent looking box, and Anaiya almost had the feeling that it grew angry at her aunt. "I'm not an overly superstitious elf, but I've been having the strangest dreams ever since I got out of that Temple, and either I'm finally going stark raving mad, or that evil little device is seducing me to the dark side!"

She dramatically waved her hands in the air and startled the above mentioned serving maid into nearly spilling a pitcher of goat's mead. Anaiya exchanged glances with Bessany beside her. Meliri reached forward and ran her fingers over the top of the box, then picked it up, looking it over. She shrugged noncommittally and placed it back on the table.

"Not that I remember ma'am. Although it looks something like a Soul Gem, I think, in a strange unorthodox way." Verfanas' face went from curious to annoyed to interested in the span of 5 seconds, and Anaiya had a brief moment where she wondered if being flighty and odd was a druid trait one developed or something unique to her aunt. She hoped it was just her aunt.

"Call me Ver, or Verfanas, or 'Yo Druid' even if you must, but don't call me ma'am." Verfanas shuddered visibly. "Makes me feel old. But don't call me Verfie. Only Ummy gets to call me that". She gestured behind her and gave Umber the human a sly secretive smile. Anaiya scrunched up her nose.

Her aunt was always either acting like a moon-sick fawn around Umber or trying to rip him to shreds. Love was apparently a very strange emotion. Steering her mind determinedly back to the moment, she reached out herself to touch the object. As her fingers neared it, she felt a warmth begin to infuse the small trinket, or so it seemed to her.

Startled she glanced at her aunt, only to realize Verfanas was now making out with the human, having apparently forgotten about or lost interest in her latest curiosity. Anaiya drew her hand back, rubbed her fingers, than figured she'd either imagined it or the object was warm from being close to her aunt's body inside her robes.

She reached for the box again, and closed her fingers around it. She had the brief sensation of such intense heat, as of a giant bonfire, before her mind was lost in a whirlwind of blackness.

Her body slumped sideways off the bench to land with a solid thud on the stone flagstones, the box still clutched tightly in her hand. Inside her mind, her very essence was being torn this way and that, buffeted by something so strong, so powerful, that she could barely hang on to what and who she was.

She had senses, she could tell, she knew she was a she, she knew who she was…or did she? She 'glanced' around in desperation, 'seeing' nothing but swirling endless darkness. The small shining ball of gold that was her soul was all that she could make out in the vast empty black.

'_Me. I am Anaiya Cloudchaser! Druid. Anaiya…who am I?_'

Her thoughts desperately revolved around each other until she was almost driven mad.

'_I need to get out of here! I need to find myself. I need to find something, something important?_

' Her essence grasped onto itself and held on tightly, afraid if she lost even a small part of the glowing white light she had become, that she would be forever lost in this darkness, beyond saving. Then from the darkness she caught sight of a green glow. Cautiously her mind self floated towards this light. She was thoroughly confused, and determined to get out of wherever she was.

As she neared the green glow, she felt a pressure in her mind. The pressure grew greater, even when she stopped, unable to go further because of the almost-pain bearing down on her. Suddenly the green glow coalesced into a giant glowing green creature. It took her a few minutes to realize she was staring in shock at the largest dragon she'd ever seen, not that she was an expert on dragons by any means. But she had seen a few dragons here and there, and when not in their human form they towered over the mortals around them. But this dragon was titanic.

It absolutely engulfed the space around it. It lowered its head to look at her, and she saw in its eyes the most horrifying visions of despair, madness, loss, grief, confusion, pain, chaos. The emotions were almost too much to bear. Then the ancient dragon opened its maw and shouted at her.

**"MORTAL YOU MUST RELEASE ME FROM THESE CHAINS! I SENSE MY GRIP ON THE DREAM TWISTING INTO CHAOS!"**

the voice was projected into her mind and it was so intrusive and so loud that she feared she would explode from the sheer force of will behind it. She shook herself, terribly afraid of what was going and not understanding this great dragon. Nothing was making any sense and she could barely remember that somewhere, she was supposed to be sitting at a table with her friends.

As if from a distance, she heard much softer and less intrusive voices, calling her.

"Anaiya? Anaiya wake up!"

"What's wrong with her? Is she sick?"

"Look, her nose is bleeding! Something is going on! Do something!"

The voices faded until all she could hear was the swirling blackness and the deep breathing of the dragon. The creature was still staring into her eyes, as if willing her to do something, although she had no idea what it wanted. When she tried speaking to it, she realized she couldn't even form the thought for speech, and that was just as worrying as being in some strange dimension with a crazed dragon.

Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of a white beam of light, and since it was an oddity in the blackish realm, she drifted toward it. The dragon continued to follow her movement, moving its head to keep her in full view. It made no move to attack her or to stop her, but she still felt the impression of repressed violence from it, as if it could barely hold off the urge to rend her soul to pieces, or maybe as if something else was holding it in check.

She tried not to think about it too closely. Drifting along the beam of light, she had the impression that the darkness around her was receding, and her soul body was getting heavier. Eagerly she sped up, hoping to get out of this nightmarish place.

With a mental snap, she found herself quite suddenly in her own real life body again, flat on her back. Her eyes darted open and she gasped, sitting up so abruptly that she banged her head on her aunt's forehead, who had been leaning over her in a concerned fashion.

She felt extremely dizzy and couldn't focus properly but could just recognize Meliri kneeling on one side of her with a worried expression and Bessany on the other side with an equally worried expression.

"Wha-What happened?" Anaiya coughed and rubbed her face, smearing a substance across her cheek. She frowned and glanced at the back of her hand, seeing blood there. Her eyes widened and she wiped at her nose.

"You tell us girl. One minute we were all sitting there talking about that bauble of your aunt's, and then the next you keel over. We thought you'd had a stroke or something. You were lying so still and you wouldn't wake up! Don't _do_ that!" Meliri's voice became shrill near the end and she impulsively hugged Anaiya.

Her aunt leaned back on her heels and crossed her arms. "Tell us what happened." She made it seem a demand, and Anaiya was only too happy to oblige, wanting their opinion on whatever happened.

"I was just sitting there listening to you talk. I wanted to touch the little box to know what it felt like. I remember it feeling warm as I put my hand near it but I just assumed it was how it normally behaved so I didn't think to ask. When I touched it I felt this jolt, kind of like if you stick your hand in a fire, the heat was so intense it was cold. Then suddenly I was in this blackness. I think only my soul was there, I didn't have a body, just a shiny wispy ball with a mind. I saw a green glow and I went to find out. I hoped it was the exit because I didn't want to be there and I didn't know what was going on. Then there was this big dragon. This place, wherever I was, wouldn't let me talk or anything, but the dragon talked. It started shouting at me and it was so loud! I felt like I might burst from the pain of his voice. Then he just stared at me, as if expecting something from me. Then I saw a white light, like a line, and I followed it and found my body again!"

Anaiya took a deep breath, still shaken and confused. She had no idea what had happened or how. The others were all staring at her in various states of shock now. Anaiya self consciously ducked her head and stared at her hands in her lap. With a start she realized she was gripping the little green hexagonal box so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. She forced herself to relax her fingers and to her surprise, a part of her was reluctant to do so. What was going on here?

Her aunt jumped to her feet and offered a hand to Anaiya, who gratefully took it and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. The rest followed more slowly, still showing signs of shock.

"So you fell down a magical hole and found a dragon? Do you know how that sounds?" Meliri asked, half joking. Anaiya frowned at her.

"I'm not making it up, it wasn't some dream or nightmare or strange out of body experience, it was real! I know it was, somewhere in some different dimension or realm there is a trapped dragon, and I think he wanted me to help him."

Ver patted Anaiya's arms and back and checked through her hair, presumably looking for injuries from her fall off the bench. Finally she nodded, satisfied.

"You're fine, physically anyway. You were only unconscious for a few minutes thankfully. I think we need to talk to someone about what happened to you though. I'm thinking there's more to this little trinket than meets the eye."

She gestured to the innocent looking object that Anaiya was still holding onto. Anaiya lifted up the little box and inspected it with a bit of uneasiness, dreading being dragged back into that strange black prison again. She hated being there for even the few minutes she was, she shuddered to imagine how long that poor dragon had been there.

Her aunt reached over and plucked the object out of Anaiya's hands and shoved it into a blue pouch with silver thread all along the edges in the shape of runes. Anaiya almost protested losing sight of the trinket but bit her lip instead.

"Come on," her aunt said, and walked out the Inn door. Anaiya took a deep breath to steady herself and quickly followed her aunt outside. Meliri and Bessany trailed along behind her, curious. Umber stayed in the Inn. Verfanas entered a small, simple building not far down the path, which held multiple beds, a few of which were occupied.

There was a night elf leaning over one of the bed's occupants, continually casting what Anaiya guessed was a Heal of some sort. She absently pushed a green wave of hair out of her eyes and approached her aunt, who was talking to a Tauren standing at a counter reading a book.

The male Tauren glanced up every few seconds, nodding along with what her aunt was saying. Anaiya assumed it was a short version of what had happened to herself. Finally Verfanas glanced around, spotted Anaiya, and beckoned her over. The Tauren was now wearing a grave concerned expression that made Anaiya slightly nervous, and was staring at her quite obviously. She walked up beside her aunt and nodded greeting to the Horde member.

"Greetings child, from what your aunt has just told me, you are very lucky to have escaped unharmed. The realm of blackness that you had wandered in so innocently, was actually a Nightmare, a portion of the Emerald Dream that has been corrupted by the darkness of Hakkar and his ilk." Anaiya gave him a blank look, then glanced side-long at her aunt.

"Who's Hakkar?" She asked. The Tauren seemed to take time to contemplate this, as if wondering what the most simple answer would be. He gestured to a bed nearby and both Anaiya and Verfanas sat obediently while the Tauren faced them. Verfanas didn't seem like she was interested, but she gave off the impression that she would very much like to know.

"Hakkar is, or was, a very powerful and malevolent spirit. The Atal'ai Trolls worshipped him as a god and gained immense powers from him. He grew greedy and powerful on their ritual sacrifice and demanded more and more. He used the Emerald Dream as a portal into Azeroth to corrupt and influence the Trolls of the Gurub'ashi Empire. After some time the Emerald Dream became affected by Hakkar's continued misuse of its purity and magic. Nightmares began to form, trapping unsuspecting beings such as the green Dragonflight, who were charged with protecting the Dream. We druids very much lament such corruption and we try to heal it where we can. Many brave Green Drakes were lost to the Emerald Nightmare before Ysera was able to stop Hakkar and destroy his prophet's temple. Although she lost her consort, the green dragon Eranikus, to the Nightmare, during this battle."

The Tauren shook his head sadly. Anaiya stared open-mouthed in shock and amazement. She'd learned about the Emerald Dream in her studies, the realm that Ysera the Dragon Aspect guarded. It was said that the Emerald Dream was the blueprints for the planet, the original layout, how the world is supposed to be shaped.

The Dream kept everything in place. She knew that sometimes the older druids slept in the Dream to gain more knowledge and power and to fulfill the pact they made to Ysera in order to gain the wisdom of nature magic and shape shifting.

"The Nightmare is almost like a living entity, it is evil and corrupting, and its influence touches the minds of all those who are trapped within it. It twists the thoughts, and causes one to go mad. You are very lucky young elf, that this did not happen to you." The bovine looked down upon her gravely, as if chastising her for having been foolish enough to go stumbling around in something so dangerous. Anaiya felt like pouting.

It wasn't her fault…it was that trinket. Thinking on the trinket, she lifted her chin.

"Who was that dragon I saw? I think he needed help, he was trapped and he wanted out so badly. He was in pain!" Anaiya shivered remembering the dragon, the way he stared at her, the way he had shouted within her mind. She gazed expectantly at the tauren druid.

"I will have to confer with Ysera in the Dream about this to confirm it, but from your description I could almost say that was Eranikus himself that confronted you, but that is impossible! We had thought him beyond hope of saving. He was mad, crazed with the Nightmare when it consumed him. We druids that had defended Ysera during that battle were sure he had perished within the Dream. I cannot even begin to fathom what this means. I must talk to the Archdruids about this. Verfanas I would ask you to attend as well, they will want to know everything you can tell them about that device and where you found it." The bovine druid nodded. "Also, I have scanned the child while we were talking and found that she is quite healthy apart from some burst blood vessels, which I will heal here."

He reached out a three-fingered hand that Anaiya had to steel herself not to flinch away from. The Horde members here still cause some alarm to her if she wasn't used to them. The druid placed his hand on her forehead. It was warm and the fur was soft and downy. She felt a slight twinge between her ears, as if something was pinched, and then felt much better then just moments earlier, having not even noticed how tensed she was until her body finally relaxed.

"Thank you sir," she said politely, dipping her head. The Tauren nodded kindly at her. Feeling dismissed, she stood up, but didn't want to leave just yet. Whatever was going to happen with that trinket, she wanted to help. She wasn't sure exactly what she could do, but she remembered quite clearly that dragon's not so subtle plea for help, part threat, part begging.

It made her want to take action, to do something right now. But she knew that the druids would want to discuss this, and the ancient ones were much wiser then her. She'd have to wait and see what they decided on, and offer her help at the right opportunity.

She walked to the door, waited a few minutes for her aunt, who waved her off, seemingly wanting to discuss the little box in more detail. Anaiya gave them one last lingering look, then made her way back to the Inn, knowing Meliri and Bessany would be wanting the full story. And what an interesting story it was. She couldn't wait to see if Mel had any textbooks on the Dream with her. She wanted to know more about this Eranikus.


	7. Ch 7: Poison, Plotting Trinkets, Druids

Disclaimer: I do not in fact have any claims to the wonderful minds of Blizzard. I just love their time consuming and horribly addicting game. *sigh*. Where was I? Oh yes! I'm sorry for the late update, but in between all that blah blah work excuse, it was a bit harder to write than the others. And of course as always I spend way too much time on WoW. Before I know it the time has flown by and I've not spent any of the time on writing that I told myself I would. Happen to any of you? By the way reviews would be absolutely wonderful! I love reading what all you lovely people thought of my rather strange story. Please let me know? Thank you for your patience for this, and please enjoy the newest chapter!

* * *

Chapter 7: Poisons, Plotting Trinkets, and Druids. What More Could You Ask For?

Agony. Spiking Agony.

Fiery pain without end, all consuming.

It was all Key could do to stay sane. The pain he was feeling was shaking his entire body and he was only minimally aware of his surroundings. He couldn't understand why he was feeling this devastating agony. It was just a stab wound. Granted it was dangerously deep but he had every confidence that Shana could have healed it.

But why then was he still in such mind numbing pain? His fevered mind couldn't think, couldn't grasp any single concept and string it together to form complete thoughts. It was so hard to even stay in his semi conscious state. Determinedly he drew a deep internal breath and mustered all his energy into opening his eyes. It was chaos around him. He could just make out a blurry shape kneeling beside him, frantically patting his side and forehead and endlessly whispering soft chants.

His eyes were in such pain from being forced open that he didn't even try to focus on the shape, just assumed it was Shana. Beyond her, the world became even more fuzzy and blurred out. He thought he could see the twins fighting giant gargoyles with claws that gleamed in the sickly light.

He thought he could just make out Cedric with raised hands, shouting something furiously and sending bolts of blue ice streaking toward the hovering enemy. He knew he should do something, he knew he should get up and help, but it was hard enough just keeping his eyes open.

He trembled with the pain, it sent shivers and stabs of needle hot points all throughout his body, seeming to follow every blood vessel, every nerve ending, in an endless circle of screaming pain. All of his nerves were screaming with this pain. Such pain, such anguish his body was feeling; it was forcing tears to his eyes and he slowly became aware that his hands were clenched so tightly that he could feel his nails digging into his palms.

Slowly it registered that something must be wrong with him, more so then just a wound. Just as slowly he remembered they're venture into the keep, how Valwyn had found some documents of importance. How all the light had gone out, they'd run for the exit…Valwyn was dead!

She'd said something about poison, some strong poison that had affected her when Dar'Khan had stabbed her. Sluggishly his mind connected the dots and he realized that he also must be poisoned. He let his eyes fall shut in despair. Now he was doomed.

Shana did not know how to cleanse a poison, that special ability was reserved for Druids and Paladins. His mind could barely function, and just the thought of grasping for his light blessed powers shot more agony through his skull so fiercely that he briefly blacked out. So he could not cleanse himself. This was bad.

No one else in their party had the power to even heal, let alone perform a powerful cleansing, which he suspected was what would be needed. They needed someone who's magic was strong and true. Druids were always stronger in the arts of removing curses and poisons from travelers. Another spike of pure agony shivered through his mind, cutting off all thought for precious minutes. He lay shaking, trying to override it. Finally it subsided, and he forced his eyes open again.

He saw the gargoyles, beyond furious, being driven back into the sky. The hideous creatures spat with fury and promise of vengeance, but warily flew out of dagger throwing distance, hovering silently just at the edge of Key's wavering vision, black specs against a gray sky. One of the twins shook a dagger at them, and both trudged back in his direction, one supporting the other gently. The mage was white faced from exhaustion and stumbled back to land heavily on the ground beside Key.

Shana said something sharply and everyone instantly turned with astonishment to her, then stared down at Key. He cleared his throat, rode through another spike of mind consuming agony, and endeavored to speak. Nothing came out but a soft moan. He inwardly scowled, feeling his pride sift out the window, and tried again.

"What's going on? Are we safe?" He coughed raggedly, and the action made his blurry vision fade to black from the pain. He was so sick of feeling this way. His words were barely a whisper but Shana's glowing eye sockets instantly jerked to his face and she bent low enough that her profile slowly came into focus.

Her gray face was even grayer with anxiety and panic. She bit her lip and glanced away, then shook her head and glanced back.

"Well," she said, and wet her lips, despite not needing to moisten them, being Forsaken, and nervously glanced behind her.

"We're about a mile from the citadel, we found a small natural alcove in the earth and that's where we are now. The gargoyles wouldn't leave us alone, they attacked and harried us the whole way. It was awful! I've had to be constantly healing the others the whole way. Cedric carried you, and the rogues protected our backs as we ran. We…we had to leave Advisor Valwyn's body behind; I'm sorry."

She grimaced. Her yellow eyes became bright and shiny and Key had a vague disconnected thought of wondering if Forsaken could cry. Apparently not in the way he knew because nothing came of the shiny eyes, but he bet if they could, she would be. She was speaking again and he hastily tuned in. His body suffered another severe tremor and he arched his back unconsciously to help mitigate the pain.

"Key we can't…I mean I can't, I can't heal you properly. I tried, really I did! But everything I did was just rebounded back at me, like backlash. I've never seen anything like this. It's as if it's resisting my magic. And that isn't right, it is impossible to resist healing magic. There's something inside you, some poison, its killing you. We don't know what to do, I can't take this!"

Her last words were almost a shout, in a high strung voice that clearly said 'I'm not cut out for this kind of stress.' Key struggled to process her words, taking precious moments to understand. His mind felt like lead, sitting like a big sluggish weight in his skull. It was all he could do not to scream till his voice went hoarse. He knew if he started screaming he'd never stop.

_'Think! Get yourself out of this mess!_' He told himself sternly.

He had no desire to die out here in the middle of nowhere surrounded by Scourge and who knew what else.

"I-I need," He coughed. "I need someone who is strong in the healing magic, who can also cleanse poison. A Druid. They are the best at cleansing poisons." He was panting after that, having used up most of his strength to speak.

His vision wavered in and out, going black every few seconds. He began to imagine that he could see streaks of green everywhere he looked, but determined that it was a hallucination. After a particularly debilitating wave of fresh pain, Key tried to gather his scrambled wits enough to pay more attention. He noticed that Shana was now speaking to the mage, gesturing from the paladin to their surroundings in a sharp manner that bespoke someone at the end of their tether.

Cedric kept frowning and mumbling something that Key couldn't hear due to the throbbing in his ears, but he assumed it was some sort of complaint or excuse. Finally words reached his befuddled and weary mind again.

"I don't care about your petty problems mage, its not our fault that you failed to carry the necessary supplies for more than one portal creation, and I have far more confidence in your ability to make it back to Tranquillien alive then I have of Keyanomir surviving the next few minutes let alone the trek back to the town."

Her zombie-like complexion was turning a strange off white with annoyance. "Come on Cedric, you heard him, we need a druid, and the only druids I know of that are strong enough for a Cleansing of this magnitude are in Nighthaven. Now I know you're a skilled enough mage to do this, so get that portal open NOW!"

She gave the mage a last warning glare before turning back to the comatose paladin. Key felt himself start shaking, but strangely he felt more hot then anything. Shana's brow crinkled and a white-gold light surrounded her, before transferring its radiance onto Key, bathing him in cooling holy magic. He felt marginally better, but the moment she stopped the flow of healing magic, the agony came back tenfold.

_'I'm going to kill that bastard the first chance I get',_Key swore vehemently to himself.

As soon as he was recovered he was coming back to finish Dar'Khan once and for all, and avenge Valwyn as well as recover his honor. A faint shimmer in his peripheral vision alerted him to the fact that Cedric must have finally heeded the priest's demands.

In the distance he thought he heard the voices of the rogues, asking questions and offering whatever help they could. Shana told them to keep lookout after healing any wounds they had received from the gargoyles. He was feeling very disconnected from reality, almost as if he was floating, and that feeling was just as alarming as the initial icy pain of the wound.

Firmly he clamped down on his thoughts and tried getting a better glance around. From what he'd been hearing, he surmised that Shana must have realized he was right and needed a powerful druid to cleanse the poison from his veins in order for him to heal.

As he was thinking this, he could feel his holy energy being drained away by the terrible poison, feeding it and helping it grow stronger inside of him. He hoped it wasn't too late already. Apparently Cedric was even now forming a portal to Moonglade, where supposedly many of the most powerful druids gathered. Sending him to Nighthaven seemed to make more sense than Silvermoon because he knew there were no druids in the blood elf city, something about the city repelled their nature-based instincts.

The quickest way to get him help lay in Moonglade. But he was concerned about the rest of them. He got the impression that they weren't coming with. Not that he'd blame any of them for wanting to stay here in Ghostlands and take their chances, rather then head halfway around the world to the continent of Kalimdor just for a random party member they had just met and barely knew.

He didn't like the idea of they're being vulnerable out here in the woods. Hopefully a scouting party or even one of the guardians that watched the roads would come across the rest of them and escort them safely back to Tranquillien. Something niggled at the back of his foggy mind, something important about Tranquillien, but he couldn't focus on the thought enough for it to form. It was painful enough being conscious. He heard the mage say something, and Shana stood up.

She reached down and Key got the impression that the portal was ready. He was afraid that if he took the time to actually really think this through, he'd find something wrong with their logic here, but he could feel his soul dying as he lay here shaking on the cold ground, and he really did not want to die before he'd had a chance to visit all the cities and find a nice pretty woman to settle with and all that romantic drivel that he always mocked in his friends.

It didn't feel right with him, abandoning the rest of them to their fate, but what else could he do? He was useless to them as he was, and his death would help no one. He knew the mage could easily teleport himself back to the city, but he hoped that Cedric would have enough honor to stay and accompany the rogues back.

He tried shaking his head to clear it, wanting to say something to the twins. They both stood solemnly beside the mage, watching him with pale, anxious faces. He gave them a somewhat wan grin.

"Lets hope these druids are good looking," He said in what he hoped was a joking manner but which probably just turned out quiet and pain filled. The rogues both gave him half hearted grins for the effort. The portal shimmering in the air in front of the mage was swirling many iridescent colors at once and Key had the unsettling stomach lurching feeling that he was going to faint just watching the dizzying array.

"I'm going to go with Keyanomir. Yasmine, Faradir, Cedric, I know you'll be fine. I have confidence in your skills. Just keep under cover, don't do anything risky or stupid, and stick to the main road. You'll find help soon I'm sure. Please be safe and we'll get back to Tranquillien as soon as Key is healed. I know the druids will help, they wouldn't be able to turn away anyone in need, despite Moonglade being a neutral sanctuary for studying."

Shana spoke in a quiet determined voice, and she sounded so different from earlier that Key vaguely wondered if maybe she'd make a good leader someday if she were ever given the chance. He was not sure how to take the idea of Shana coming along. He'd been to Moonglade once, and although there were not any blood elves living there, there had been a few visiting elf mages and if he'd not been made exactly welcome, they hadn't told him to bugger off either.

He had not, though, seen any Forsaken and wondered how the druids would take a Forsaken popping into their front yard, so to speak. But he was happy she was coming because he wasn't sure how he would be able to help himself or acquire the aid he needed, and having someone he knew to support him seemed like a good idea. Shana gave the rest of their ill fated group a worrying glance, clearly torn between making sure Key survived and helping the rest of the party reach the safety they sorely needed.

Everyone was obviously shook up. Finally Cedric jerked a hand at the portal. "It wont last forever you know. And the paladin looks dead already. Hurry up, we'll be fine."

He grunted when Shana sent a black glare his way. She waved good luck to the twins, and helped Key to the portal. He more staggered into it than walked through it, but nevertheless, he felt the familiar yank of being pulled through the dimensions that mage portals used to hop from one location to another.

The swirling vortex was making him ill and his pulse throbbed in his ears. He landed with a painful thump on a grassy knoll with a small breathtaking village just beyond it. Gently glowing lamps lit up the nearly dark pathway that led to Nighthaven. Key violently threw up all over the grass, and lay on his side, being too weak to even move from the mess.

He smelled blood and toxins on himself. Shana flashed into existence mere feet from him. She stumbled slightly before catching her balance on the new ground. She glanced around and sagged with relief when she realized that they had indeed ended up in Moonglade.

"Help, please someone help us!" Shana shouted desperately while holding Key's head up so he didn't choke on his vomit. He felt absolutely miserable, no scratch that, he felt beyond miserable. His surroundings were starting to blend into one big green swirling vortex and he didn't think that was a good thing, and he felt so nauseous, so agonizingly sick. Shana's pleas for help became progressively louder as minutes passed by with no one responding.

"Where is everyone? I need help! I have someone here gravely injured! Druids of Nighthaven!"

Her scratchy papery voice carried quite clearly in the still peaceful air. Finally, Key's wavering vision caught the sight of two Tauren warily coming down the patch toward them. The large creatures were no doubt cautious of this strange occurrence and weren't sure if this was some sort of trick or threat. He didn't blame them.

He bet that they didn't see many sights such as this. Shana was near sobbing with relief when they reached the two adventurers. Since obviously the most Key was capable of was trying to remain awake and not sick up all over the Tauren's hooves, Shana rapidly explained their situation and how they came to be in Moonglade.

The Tauren exchanged glances in alarm more than once. Finally Shana gestured to Key and said "Please he needs immediate aid! Take us to your infirmary for healing!" The Tauren hesitated, not sure exactly how to go about this. Finally one shrugged and stooped down. Key felt himself being lifted by large furry arms, and the sensation of motion almost made him lose himself to the blackness at the edge of his vision.

He could still hear Shana's voice somewhere in the background, giving concerned orders, and the part of his mind not completely incapacitated by body shaking agony was again remarking on her ability to take control of a situation if confronted with it. The Tauren began walking with Key tucked carefully away in his arms, and if he wasn't an invalid with his grievous wound, the paladin would have been mortified with the position he was in.

He did not like being physically close to someone that he'd never met before, and he was not one to be carried around like a fainting woman. As the Tauren walked, Key noticed that they were garnering quite the crowd, as native Moongladers were obviously curious about what was going on in their peaceful little town. There were quite a few more Druids than the last time he'd been to Moonglade, which made him wonder if maybe they were growing in numbers, or maybe having some sort of celebration or ceremony at the moment.

A few questions were called out, all ignored by the small entourage, as everyone was focused on getting to the infirmary as quickly as possible. Finally the Tauren entered a small low roofed building of night elf design. Key's eyes rolled back in his head as another wave of pain assaulted him and he jerked in the Tauren's arms. Surprised, the Tauren dropped him on the floor. Despite his pain, Key managed to curse and send an ungrateful glare at the large creature.

'_Clumsy cow'_, he thought sourly. When the bovine creature made to pick him up again, Key grimaced in pain and scooted away from his arms. He refused to be carried any longer. His attempt at standing went rather well in that he did not in fact fall on his face shortly after, but instead made it to a conveniently nearby sickbed before collapsing on top of it.

If the bed had not been there…well Key didn't think about that. Shana immediately rushed over to him, exclaiming over him and touching his forehead as if he was her child. Her abrupt change in personality during emergencies was a bit disconcerting after dealing with anxious stressed Shana pre-mission.

The two Tauren who had accompanied them into the building held a brief discussion with an aged Tauren who had walked up to them while Shana was fussing over Key. The new Tauren waved off the others, and they nodded and left, tails swishing.

The new Tauren was dressed in long robes of varying shades of green, with feathered green shoulder knots and a feathered headdress. He assumed this bovine was a Druid, and hoped he was a powerful restoration druid, because he could literally feel his life being eaten away by whatever poison Dar'Khan had stabbed him with. The Tauren had deep furrows in his furry elongated face, and Key felt a little distressed, knowing that the Druid was also worried.

When the Druid approached the bed that Key had appropriated for himself, Shana stood up and straightened her hair in a nervous way, as if just now noticing that she was in a strange place surrounded by many ancient and powerful beings. She watched the tauren out of the corner of her non-eyes, then whet her lips and glanced down at Key. Key attempted a shrug, which didn't exactly work due to his body's uncontrollable shivering.

"Thank you dear girl for bringing this unfortunate being to us. I suggest you go clean yourself up and see to getting some rest, you look like you need it. I assure you, your companion will still be here when you return" The tauren Druid's voice was so extremely soft that Key barely heard his murmured words to Shana.

The Priestess opened her mouth as if to protest, but gulped it back when the bovine just looked at her. She nodded, glanced briefly in a worried fashion at Key, then moved out of his line of sight, presumably off to find somewhere to clean herself up. The Tauren squinted down at Key, and muttered a few words.

Green light formed around his furred fingers and moved from the druid into Key's skin. Key watched the green hover over him for a few seconds before sinking into his body, and he frowned. He never did understand that whole nature magic business and he thought druids were a bit strange with all their green dreams and changing into random animals. So he didn't think it could be held against him when he suddenly felt that…alien healing magic moving under his skin and panicked.

The feeling was so different that for a few seconds he actually felt worse, and furious at this, he jerked his arm up and let loose a bolt of holy light at the tauren as a defensive reflex. The second he cast the spell, he regretted it, and realized that the foreign healing magic was just that, healing magic. The tauren was clearly surprised by Key's sudden move and was hit full in the face with the blast of holy power.

There was a sharp gasp and the bovine was violently knocked back about five yards to fetch up against a night table. The golden light slowly dissipated around the Tauren's shocked face, muzzle open in shock as he slid to the floor with his back against the table. Key sent him an apologetic look, still concentrating on the healing magic inside him. He could feel his own holy aura questing out this invading green fog, but it seemed the two magics were not adverse to each other

. Miraculously, he felt his head begin to clear of the poisonous green gas that had been permeating it. Very achingly slowly, the black spots in his vision cleared. As the druid's magic worked on cleaning the poison, he suddenly felt sick again. Before he could begin thinking of something to throw up in, it just happened and he felt himself contort onto his side as he vomited up a brownish thick sludge that deeply alarmed him. He didn't like the look of that stuff.

A quick look confirmed that his actual wound was still open and bleeding, and looking faintly greenish around the edges. He glanced back up to see the tauren had made his way back to the bed.

"My healing power is great, but this is a very strong poison and it has very stubbornly taken a hold of you. It will take several cleansing to remove this thoroughly." The Tauren frowned at Key, clearly vexed that his wondrous amazing backwoods healing wasn't having the effect he thought it would. Key almost smirked. that's why he was glad to be a Paladin. Better at healing and better looking.

The druid held up a hand in the same motion as before, then stopped and glanced a question at the paladin, clearly wondering if it was okay for him to continue without being attacked. Key arched an elegantly crafted eyebrow at him, already feeling more like his old self again.

He gave a slight nod in weary acceptance. Curses on the Sunwell, he just wanted to feel better, to go back to Silvermoon and sleep for a week and forget this whole miserable debacle. But somehow he had a feeling he wouldn't be getting back to Silvermoon for quite some time. He flopped onto his back with a sigh. It had all gone so wrong, so completely wrong. Somewhere forgotten in the background, he felt the Druid continue his ministrations, sending wave upon wave of green streams into the paladin.

All Key could think of was that moment when Valwyn was murdered in front of him, that cold sneering look on Dar'Khan's face. He couldn't wait to get back. Despite not wanting anything more to do with Tranquillien and their desperate problems, he knew he wanted revenge on that filthy necromancer. Dar'Khan would not get away for all he'd done to Keyanomir Sunblade, no way. Somehow, he was going back into that keep, and he was going to spit into Dar'Khan's dead eyes.

His thoughts eventually swirled into each other in a mess of pained exhaustion and his body relaxed into the deep healing slumber it needed to repair itself.

Unbeknownst to him, several Druids had joined the first one in attempts at healing him. Eventually their combined efforts managed to heal his wounds and clear up most of the infections, but they were concerned with what they couldn't seem to cleanse. A small bud of blackness, a tiny leech that lay beneath the skin on his side, darkening the blood elf's skin to a dark shade of green in the shape of a dagger. This tiny nest of poison the druids could not reach.

They tried for most of the night to cleanse this last lingering touch of venom but it would not be touched. All their healing slid right over it as if it wasn't there. The druids had never encountered the like before, and wondered what this would mean for the paladin, for eventually they knew that the poison would again spread unless constantly kept in check by regular cleansings. Not wanting to wake the paladin because they knew he needed the sleep after such harrowing circumstances and the powerful healings they had laid on him, the druids conferred quietly among themselves.

They tracked down the Forsaken Priestess who had traveled to Moonglade with the poisoned blood elf and explained to her their findings. Shana was deeply concerned with their news herself, and didn't know what to do since she couldn't perform any sort of poison cleansing spell. They all decided they would wait and see what the blood elf decided when he woke. They would tell him once he had wakened and they could be assured of his condition.

Meanwhile, forgotten in all the rush over the dying blood elf, a small hexagonal shaped box pulsed green, similar to that of a great heart beating.

If one had glanced over at this small object, they would be amazed to see a reptilian eye gazing out from one facet of the box, covertly watching the sleeping paladin with a most thoughtful and apprising look, as if wondering what use it could make out of this new development and how exactly it could make this fit into its plans.

If one indeed saw all of this, one would then think they had been drinking way too much dwarf spirits, because obviously inanimate objects did not have sentient thoughts and reptilian eyes that watched their surroundings with interest.

Funny how one could live in such an unpredictable and unstable world and still have such narrow views.

With a frantically beating heart, Anaiya jerked awake in bed, staring around wildly. She had just had the most horrifying dream. What was it about? Second after waking, the vivid dream was already fading. For the life of her, she could not recall a single thing. But the dream had seemed so important, so urgent. Outside her room, through the round high set window if the Inn, the large white moon shone down at her, distant and observant.

Elune's gift to her loving the children, the moon had always been a source of comfort to Anaiya when she was small. Nearby, Meliri's snoring became just a tinge louder. Anaiya gave her fellow roommate a wry glance. Assured that all seemed well despite her frightful dream, Anaiya settled back under the blankets. The following day, she thought drowsily, was going to be different. She could just feel it. Something was going to happen, and she just knew it was going to involve her and her little green trinket. If she was more awake, she would have been alarmed by her possessiveness of said green trinket.


	8. Ch 8: And I thought Tattoos Were Cool?

Hello lovely people of the fanfiction world. I'm still here! Thank you for the inspiring reviews :), every time I read them it urged me to get my butt in gear and hurry up. Sorry it's been taking a while, WoW is a very demanding game and it likes to be the center of attention *sigh*. Darn these addictions. But do not fret, because no matter how long between updates I will be, I promise that there will ALWAYS be an update, and I will finish the story, and the many others I have whirling around my brain. This chapter is a bit short because it seemed the best place to end it considering what I have in mind for the next scene. I hope this story is fun and interesting and something you all enjoy spending your time reading. Please review for the grateful authoress, and thank you all for the encouragement. I am planning on shaking things up a bit next chapter, and the format will be a bit different. From chapter 1-8 I've been doing 2 chapters for Ana, and 2 for Key. But seeing as how you all know they will be meeting here soon, I am now switching their points of view depending on each situation, and they will no longer have their own chapters, just because I think a story goes smoother that way. Trust me, I know what I'm doing!...Or do I? Oo. Enjoy!

I Do Not Own Blizz, WoW, Any NPC's you may recognize, or the setting! Don't sue, I'm poor!

* * *

Chapter 8: And I Thought Tattoos Were Cool?

A low murmur of voices finally brought Key to consciousness, swimming up from depths of empty blackness. His first thought upon waking, was that something was off. His eyes were still closed, and he did not have any desire to open them, exhausted as he was. He felt as if a herd of kodos had trampled him, followed by a horde of angry murlocs. With a put upon sigh, his eyelids fluttered open and slowly his surroundings came into focus.

For one confused and mind boggling moment, he thought his eyes had been cursed, because all he could make out was a wall of solid purple. After blinking for a few minutes, often enough that it made him slightly dizzy, he realized that his eyesight was in good working order, if a bit blurry, and the solid purple was in fact the décor of whatever room he happened to be situated in.

Glancing around without moving himself, he noted the dark colored interior, the elegant moons stylized on the nearby tables, and the fanciful woodwork_. _

_'Huh, Night Elf work'_, he thought bemusedly.

The buzz of voices was coming from his left, and turning his head slightly, he could see two Tauren talking quietly to each other by one of the many beds that seemed to occupy most of the space of this room.

_'Must be an infirmary of some sort.'_

After ascertaining his location, and deeming it safe for the moment, since he doubted anyone here would be bent on harming him after they had apparently just gone through healing him, he turned his mind to assessing himself. He had only vague memories of what had happened in Deathholme, and the most vivid of those being of agony beyond endurance from a vicious stab wound in his side.

Flexing his fingers and then hand on his left side, the injured side, brought no pain, which gave him some relief. His eyesight was still slightly out of focus, which was just a bit worrisome, but since he could still see, he put that aside for the time being. Lifting the heavy coverlet off himself, he glanced down at his torso to where he remembered being stabbed by Dar'Khan.

He gasped in dismay upon seeing a dark blackish mark shaped slightly like an S marring his flesh, an evil caricature of a tattoo. He felt his heartbeat speed up. Why hadn't the Druids healed him? Was there something wrong with the wound? Maybe they needed to rest in between?

All the questions in his head, along with the sight of the wound, was causing him to feel ill. He reached a shaking hand downward and rubbed a finger over the brand. The skin didn't feel any different in any way, and after feeling the mark, he realized that it was _under_ the skin, and actually not like a brand or tattoo at all.

Despite this disturbing mark, he felt physically fine, and felt no lingering pain at all. Taking a deep breath, he sat up, and instantly regretted it when the room spun in circles of irritating purple and he fell back again. Okay, that was not a good idea. He cast a sidelong look at the two Tauren, hoping they hadn't noticed the sudden movement. To his dismay, the Tauren druids, always on the alert to any change in their patients, had caught the sudden movement immediately, and were now rushing over with concern on their furred faces.

Feeling annoyed and slightly mortified that he couldn't even sit up without almost fainting like a girl, Key gave them his blackest scowl. The older Tauren raised an eyebrow at him, clearly unfazed by this behavior. The shorter of the two glanced nervously at Key's expression, then reached forward with the intent of grasping his wrist. Having none of it, Key jerked his arm back.

"A good morning to you sir." The older Tauren spoke softly, with the kind of voice one used on the very sick patients or on a particularly skittish creature. Not feeling sick now that the dizziness had passed, Key resented the overly calm and soothing tones.

"I hate mornings. Who are you? Am I in Moonglade? Where's Shana? Unhand me!" He said the last in a hiss as the younger Tauren reached for his wrist again, managing to capture it for a brief second before Key snatched it back. The Tauren gave him an exasperated glance, and heaved a gusty sigh.

"I was only checking your health paladin, calm yourself." The Tauren huffed and stood back, apparently having given up on his attempts. Key felt absurdly satisfied by this, and smirked. After making sure that the younger Tauren was going to keep his distance, he turned his attention back to the other one, who was still regarding him with calm, gentle eyes.

Now he knew why he never visited Thunder Bluff (other then the obvious fact that it was such a pain to travel to, and who built their city on a cloud-high mountain anyway?). The actions of these Tauren was fast ruining his mood, and he was determined to be gone from this horrid place as quickly as it took to find his armor and collect Shana.

"Answer me Tauren, where is Shana?" Stressing the words in case the creature was slow on the uptake, Key sent the bovine a commanding look.

"Shana…the Forsaken yes? Horrible, what was done to those poor souls, we shouldn't blame them for the sins done against their unwilling selves, but it is our nature I'm afraid, to discriminate against those who are different" The Tauren murmured, and Key rolled his eyes impatiently.

If they weren't going to be any help, he'd look for her himself. He hated when he was injured because that meant he had to rely on others, and having to rely on Druids was almost as bad as having to rely on an a member of the Alliance. To him they almost seemed one and the same.

Most of the druids he knew were tree hugging sentimentalists who gleefully consorted with Alliance members on any given basis. Gesturing the tauren out of his way, he clamped his teeth down and moved his legs over the side of the bed in a motion to get up. Unfortunately, he underestimated his health and ended up face first on the floor.

The younger tauren made a motion toward him with a horrified look but Key sent him a murderous glance that promised retribution if he so much as took a step in Key's direction, and the bovine stopped just short of hovering. The other one just stood there with his arms folded with a disapproving frown.

His face flushed with humiliation, Key scrambled to his feet with the help of the night stand that was conveniently situated next to the bed. Bedraggled strands of hair stuck to his cheek and he grimaced. He definitely needed to carry hair ties on his travels. As he painstakingly took the energy to replace the wayward clump of hair to its proper position, Key suddenly remembered the papers that Valwyn had given him to hand over to the leaders of Tranquillien. He cursed loudly, patting himself down.

Since he had been stripped to his smallclothes, he realized that the Druids must have relieved him of the documents as well. He hoped they dared not snoop through those papers. He was determined to get them to that beleaguered outpost as quickly as he could find a portal back to Silvermoon City.

"Where exactly are you proposing to go looking like that, young paladin?" Inquired the calm older Tauren with a look of exasperation. He gestured to the bed and said, "kindly place yourself back in that bed or I may be forced to do it for you. You are far from completely recovered and I'd like to not waste hours of exhausting healing on some ungrateful calf who thinks he knows everything."

The Tauren's words had grown stern with warning by the end of the sentence and although he still had a relaxed stance, Key had the sudden impression that if he were to make a move for the door he'd find himself tackled by an 8 foot, 600 pound bovine. Key glanced reflexively at the exit, then eyed both Tauren for a moment, before gingerly sitting back down on the bed.

Refusing to completely give in to them, he did nothing more than sit, and crossed his arms irately.

"Where are my clothes? Where are the papers that I had on my person? Where is my traveling companion?" He demanded.

The younger male sighed impatiently and replied "Being cleaned and repaired. With your armor. Probably eating breakfast."

Key blinked at the disjointed responses, fitting them into his questions. Finally he gave a satisfied nod.

"Thank you," he replied grudgingly.

The younger Tauren nodded back curtly.

The older one, feeling that settled, asked "can we now perform our physical exam to ascertain if our healing was not undone overnight? After all, we did spend most of yesterday evening trying to keep you alive." He raised an eyebrow at Key.

The paladin debated, but then felt it would be in his best interest to just let the healers complete their scan of him and send him on his way. He nodded stiffly, and the younger of the druids, probably an apprentice of some sort, eagerly stepped forward, ready to finish his job.

While they did their examination, Key sent his thoughts inward, questing out his holy aura and inner magic. Being a blood elf, his own personal pool of magic concerned him greatly. He never wanted to come across a time when he ran out of his magic.

He'd heard stories of what had happened to the Blood Elves who fell prey to their magic addiction upon having no more of their own magic to siphon off. Concentrating, he sent a small surge of light throughout his mind, cleansing any dazed feelings and hoping to heal any problem that would have caused his disorientation and dizziness when he had first woken up.

His magic found several dark spaces in the recesses of his mind and he quickly cleansed those areas, and immediately felt much better and more clear headed. Opening his eyes, he found that his vision had also improved. He moved his head quickly from side to side to test the dizziness and found it mostly dissipated.

He grinned and felt himself finally relax. The younger Tauren finally straightened up from his exam of Key, and with a last hard look into the paladin's eyes to test clarity, whispered something to his companion, who nodded, and the younger wandered off, presumably to other duties.

Key felt himself mildly curious about what the younger Druid had said, but dismissed it as excess knowledge. The other Tauren stayed, studying Key openly. The blood elf began to fidget restlessly, wanting to go find Shana and get the hell out of this town of tree huggers. The older bovine creature pursed his mouth and gazed idly at the wall for a few seconds, before sighing and turning his eyes back to Key.

_'Uh oh,' _Key thought, '_whatever he's going to say, it can't be good._'

"I am Moren Riverbend, forgive me for not introducing myself earlier young paladin, there have been a few…puzzling matters lately that I have had my mind on. When you arrived here with your Forsaken companion, we were quite shocked at your state, nearly dead in her arms. We weren't sure if our healing would be enough. But it seems you are a strong fighter, and you survived. However." He paused, and his furred face wrinkled as he thought.

Key felt a tiny tendril of unease at this. He didn't like it when healers looked concerned after telling someone they were healed. Sure enough, the druid began speaking again.

"However, we encountered a toxin, a deadly poison, that we've never come across before. It is extremely powerful and very resilient. It seems to be feeding off your own magic and any attempt to remove this horrible infliction has just made it burrow deeper into your system. It has become quite strong and seeks to destroy from within. I'm afraid no druid here is powerful enough to cleanse this. You must consult with someone who's healing abilities transcend those of a mortal. A great Wyrm perhaps, or an Elemental. I warn you, this toxin must be cleansed daily by a either a druid or a shaman to keep it in check, or it will grow too powerful to contain and will eat you from the inside out."

The Tauren then gave Key a pitying, sad look, as if thinking the poor dear was already a lost cause. Key stared at the druid with his mouth open in shock.

"Say what? Wait a minute…you didn't actually cure me? I came all this light-cursed way, across a whole light forsaken continent, because I understood that the Druids of Nighthaven were the most powerful Archdruids on Azeroth, and you can't do anything? Just 'sorry sonny, you're doomed'?" Key felt both furious and frightened, not knowing how to take this news.

"You misunderstand me blood elf, calm yourself. We did heal you of your wounds, and we cured you of most of this toxin. But a seed remains, much like the fallen acorn from a mighty tree. The tree is gone, but the acorn remains. And this seed is very well protected in it's shell. It is determined to bear fruit, and when it matures, you will die. You need to have this corruption purified from your body before it is too late. I give you maybe a few months, maybe more if you can find someone who will willingly cleanse the toxin from your body on a daily basis. Do not despair or give up hope, many heroes have prevailed over greater odds."

The Tauren nodded his head sagely, as if by saying these words, he would make it so. Key shook his head in disbelief. This just couldn't be happening. Just last week or so, he was living the high life in Silvermoon City, having the ladies at his beck and call, living quite richly off the rewards of his adventures, and now this? And this druid, telling him all was well, just overcome the impossible! In just a few months? The paladin brushed a hand distractedly through his long hair.

Best to take this one step at a time. He nodded.

"Where can I take a bath?" He inquired somewhat curtly. He was still annoyed with the druids and his opinion of they're neutral nature hadn't improved very much since the last time he'd been here.

The Tauren told him to wait in bed while he ordered a hot bath drawn up for the patient. After the Tauren had set off to get the bath seen to, Key stood up, very cautiously this time, being wary of any light-headed feelings. He felt himself sway slightly, and hated the weakness that generally followed a near mortal injury.

Despite the powerful healing that he'd undergone from the druids, his body still remembered that horrible wound and was still acting like it was on the verge of shutting down. From past experience he knew that it would take a few more days yet before he felt completely himself. Although, now that he thought about it, that toxin that the druids said had a hold of him might affect his recuperation.

He hoped it wouldn't impede his recovery too much, he had to get back to the Ghostlands and deliver those papers to Deathstalker Maltendis like he promised. And then he was going after Dar'Khan. But first, he had to get off his twice-cursed continent. He loathed Kalimdor, such an unrefined land of mostly wilderness and populated by barbaric races.

He very carefully walked to the nearest circular window that interrupted the wall of purple and gold filigree. The window had obviously been made by an expert glassmaker, crafted with care and attention to detail. Small feather and moon etchings could be seen around the outer edge. Key glared dourly at the tiny artwork, then set his sights on the view outside.

And what a view it was. The small but beautiful village of Nighthaven sprawled along a sloping grassy hill, backed up against the mountains that kept it sheltered from most of the outside world.

The only way to get to Moonglade was either by bird or through the Furbolg tunnels to the south. Unless of course you were one of the Druids, who were each given a special and unique magic that allowed them to teleport themselves directly to Nighthaven at any given moment.

The nearby buildings shone brilliantly in the rising sun, and Key realized that it was almost midday. His stomach seconded that realization with a growled complaint. Along the pathways walked druids of many varieties. He saw Night Elves and Tauren, and he could have sworn he even saw a human, although he was curious as to what brought a human to Moonglade. Maybe the same reason as himself? Many of the Druids wore long heavy robes of the finest cloth, striding purposely along the many connecting bridges that spanned Nighthaven.

A few of the younger looking of them were carrying books and scrolls, and seemed to be hurrying to some unknown destination. Cocking an eyebrow at the sight of a mixed group of Tauren and Elves, Key watched silently. Finally, with a satisfied shrug, he turned from the window and slowly made his way to the door.

He stood for a few moments, debating wether it would be better to wait and have a bath, or go now and find Shana. He really did desperately want to be gone from Moonglade, by any means necessary, but he also knew he had to think this through. He was far from home, from any recognizable landscape, with no one but a Forsaken as an ally. He had little to no supplies, only a vague notion of the direction of the nearest city, and no real idea of how to get out of Moonglade safely.

At that moment, a small and slender Night Elf entered the room from a side door he hadn't noticed before. She glanced around, appearing to look for something. Her glowing eyes landed on him and she nodded.

"Paladin Sunblade? This way please for your bath." She made a sweeping gesture toward the door she had just came through, than disappeared through said door before he could respond. Key shrugged and followed quickly after her.

Once through the door he came to another, smaller room, where a large wooden tub, lovingly carved into the shape of a cupped leaf, took center stage. The bathing was comfortably warm, and pleased Key inordinately. The Night Elf was still standing by the door, with a patient expression. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I am quite capable of washing myself darlin'. But if you feel urge, I won't stop you from joining me. I have this spot that I just can't reach by myself, and would be ever so grateful if you would be willing to…see to it for me." He winked conspiratorially at her, and her light blue skin tinged slightly pink.

Without a word she left through the door, and dropped a hanging curtain down for privacy. Key shrugged. Maybe she couldn't have fun while working. To his satisfaction, he found his clothing, pack, and armor all sitting in a neat and orderly line along one wall. A stack of soft drying cloth lay near at hand to the tub, but not close enough as to be in danger of having water accidentally splashed on them. Satisfied with the proceedings, Key stripped efficiently, and brushed a few fingers through the water, testing its level of heat.

The water was perfect temperature, in the mid range, just cool enough not to cause undue wrinkles. He eagerly climbed in and sank below the water with barely a ripple, letting loose a sigh of contentment.

He closed his eyes and just soaked up the relaxing heat for a few minutes, before reaching some cleaning products and selecting one for his hair that smelled delightfully like Dreamfoil. He rubbed the solution into his hair, enjoying the feeling of finally getting a proper bath. He spent upwards of twenty minutes in his bath, not feeling the urge to rush once he'd settled into the calming waters. He felt everything fall away and dreamily thought of nothing while he soaked up the warmth.

Of course every time he happened to glance down and catch sight of the black S shaped mark on his body, it brought back all his troubles. Finally he sighed with deep regret, and clambered out of the bathing tub. Dripping water across the cobbled floor, he gathered up a dry cloth and began rubbing himself dry.

Using another cloth, he carefully wrapped his hair in it and made a twist with the cloth covering his hair to keep it from frizzing or tangling. He dressed quickly, not wanting to be naked in the suddenly chilly air for long. Once he had on his breeches and boots, he shook the drying cloth out of his hair and pulled on his tunic.

He then reached in his pack for his mirror and comb and worked on his hair for a good ten minutes. When finished, he smiled into the mirror, admiring his good looks, before replacing both in the pack and donning his armor and blade. After settling the familiar weight around himself, he walked out of the room.

With no one in sight, Key decided to just leave the infirmary. Druids never forced one to pay for their healing magic. When the dazzling sunlight hit him as he stepped outside the door, the abrupt shift in surroundings left him spinning and he nearly fell. He staggered sideways, feeling suddenly dizzy and disoriented, and managed to right himself before he ended up in a heap. Wiping cold sweat from his brow, he blinked a few times to clear the spots and adjust to the bright light.

A few druids who had been walking by gave him curious and concerned glances, but at his irritated stare, they quickly decided he wasn't worth their trouble, and continued on their way. He smirked. Now to find Shana and get out of Moonglade. Its peaceful, relaxing air was really starting to aggravate his senses. With some quick thinking, he figured that since the Druid said Shana was probably at breakfast, and since she needed a place to stay for the night, he guessed that the Inn would be the most likely place to start looking for his Forsaken companion.

Trying to orient his memory with his new location now, he remembered that the Inn was down the path to the left and across two bridges. Hoisting his shield and pack, he set off for the Inn. After crossing the first bridge, Key was almost regretting having put on his armor so quickly. The hot sun was making him more than warm, and he was starting to feel sick and dizzy again.

Trying to shrug it off, he mulled over his plans for getting himself back to Silvermoon in the Eastern Kingdoms. Obviously he should head for the nearest town and catch a ride to Orgrimmar, the capital of the Horde organization here on Kalimdor, and where most of the Horde of Azeroth gathered. Why they all congregated to that Orc city, he'd never know. Personally he thought Silvermoon was much more beautiful, much larger, and definitely more civilized. Of course, once he though about it, he didn't like the idea of every Troll, Orc and Forsaken traipsing through his beloved city.

When he entered the Inn, he was assailed by another dizzy spell, this one stronger then before, and he had a moment of mortification where he feared he'd faint in front of a room full of strangers. Swallowing dryly, he focused on the cobbled gray stones of the flooring until his vision cleared of black spots. When the strong feeling of being sick had all but passed, he straightened again and cast a subtle glance around the room, hoping no one had noticed his stumbling.

Unfortunately, a few curious eyes had turned in his direction, but after seeing that he was indeed alright, they shrugged and settled back to their wine and gossip. Key grunted in irritation and settled his armor into a nearby wooden chair that had been backed against the wall in one corner of the room.

Ahead of him, a simple, low built counter sat teeming with glasses and mugs and various other odds and ends that usually found their way into an Inn. Behind the counter, the Innkeeper was deep in discussion with what Key assumed was one of the serving maids. The girl, a young Night Elf, had her head bowed with a strained look of contrition on her face. Every once in a while the girl would look up at the Innkeeper, nod quickly, and return to studying her toes. Obviously she was getting a scolding for having done something wrong.

Key smirked. His eyes swept the remaining corners of the room, on the look out for Shana's telltale markings. His eyes moved right over her before he realized it was her. He barely recognized her in a long white gown of simple spun silk, with her brittle strands of hair held back behind her ears, and delicate white gloves to cover her gray, fleshless fingers.

She was sitting quietly by herself at one of the far tables near the back stairwell that led to the rooms upstairs. Relieved to actually find she was here, Key started toward her. Unfortunately, he did not see the long, elaborate polearm sticking out behind a chair in which sat a blue haired Night Elf who at the moment was flailing her arms whilst explaining something to her entranced companions.

Her hand glanced off her propped weapon and knocked it further out of place. Key tried to catch himself in time but regrettably did not have the balance he normally had, what with recently almost dying and all that. His plate boots caught a prong on the edge of the polearm and when he moved his other foot to compensate for the sudden imbalance, he accidentally stepped on the haft of the polearm.

He cursed in frustrated dismay. The polearm rolled out from under his footing and he fell over backwards. Having heard his cursing, the blue haired elf turned around in her chair to glare at him. Then she noticed the situation and her mouth opened in shock and confusion, her eyes going from him to her polearm, to the location of where her polearm used to be, obviously at a loss as to how he had ended up tangled with it.

Her eyes narrowed, and he had the impression that she must have come to the conclusion that he had been trying to either steal her weapon or use it to attack her. '_I'm having the worst week of my life.' _Key thought with wry amusement as he toppled over backwards to the floor.

Being in plate armor, he didn't have much room for quick maneuvering, so with a sinking feeling, knew that this was going to hurt. His head hit the stone floor with a crack that made his teeth ache, and instantly his vision swam to black_. _

He had a dream. A giant green dragon was giving him a lecture on how to properly harvest Peacebloom, while two Night Elves stood by and pointed out advice every now and then. A Troll appeared and began dancing wildly, and all the while, he kept trying to make a necklace out of Peacebloom for the green dragon to give to his mate as apology for being crazy. The dragon explained this. Key had a very odd thought; this dream made him look at Peacebloom in a whole new light. Eventually the dream faded into a vivid green, which eventually faded as well, and he had no more dreams.


	9. Ch 9: Fellowship of the Trinket?

A/N: I'd like to thank you all for the very lovely reviews! Every time I read them it makes me grin and inspires me to get at it and write a few more pages! I wish I wasn't such a procrastinator lol. I play WoW probably far too much than is healthy...but oh well. I would say I was sorry for this late update, except that would imply that I would regret not getting it out faster, and I don't regret it because that was time well spent having fun with friends on WoW!

So anyway, it's finally here, and I'm glad to have this chapter done to so I can actually move on to the REAL aspect of the story...what, the past 9 chapters werent the "real" story, you say? Well of course they were all important, but I needed to lay the groundwork, the setting, characters, storyline, plot, etc, before I could just thrust my characters into the unsuspecting perils ahead.

If you, my faithful readers, have followed everything thus far, than I can't say this is a spoiler to say that yes, this story is in response to the unfinished storyline that is started when you pick up the "chained essense of Eranikus" off his body in Sunken Temple. I felt, and I'm sure anyone who also played before Wrath, or even before BC, felt as well, that the questline was very interesting, was quite epic, and had the lamest ending ever. Let me clarify for those who didn't do it...The quest just ENDED. Poof! Fin! In the middle of the chain, the quest was turned in to someone in Winterspring, and the next part of the chain is missing. This is a quite obvious mistake that Blizzard had every intention of fixing later (or so they assured us for years :)), but had never actually gotten around to finishing. For those of you who know of, or participated in, the opening of the gates of AQ, that will also tie in here...Oo. Now that I've nattered on about the hopeful direction my story will take, here comes the boring stuff:

I DO NOT OWN BLIZZARD, I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE IN GAME CHARACTERS THAT HAVE BEEN MENTIONED. I MAKE NO MONEY OFF THIS STORY, IT IS PURELY FOR THE ENJOYEMENT OF OTHERS. THE QUOTES THAT ERANIKUS GIVES ANAIYA WHILE IN THE NIGHTMARE ARE ACTUAL WORDS THAT HE SAYS TO THE BEARER OF HIS SOUL TRINKET, AND YOU CAN HEAR THESE BY USING THE TRINKET. ONCE YOU START THE FIRST STEP OF THE CHAIN QUEST, YOU NO LONGER HEAR HIM HOWEVER. AS OF CATACLYSM, THIS QUEST IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE.

Thank you for your dedication to my story, and your heartfelt reviews! Your responses warm my toes while I write each chapter...or that could just be my fuzzy slippers? I offer you this next chapter for your reading pleasure, and hope to see more wonderful responses. And no matter the time delay between chapters, be assured that I will not give up on this story! I am having fun writing it, and having fun reading others opinions of it. Please forgive spelling errors, I am only one person with no one to proof read, and sometimes spell checker isnt all its cracked up to be. Read on...

* * *

Chapter 9: The Fellowship of the...Trinket...?

As awareness finally came back to him, Key felt a strong sense of déjà vu, and irritation.

He was a Paladin damnit! A member of the holy order and all that righteous nonsense. This sort of thing was not supposed to happen to him.

He had a vague memory of leaving the infirmary, looking for someone…yes he was looking for that darn Forsaken priest, Shana. He was ready to leave, and a feeling of kinship, of knowing her out of all these strange druids, had made him want to make sure she came with him. Not to mention that she seemed to be concerned for him. So he wanted to make sure she knew that he was alright and ready to get back to Tranquillien as soon as possible.

That thought in mind, Key tensed his muscles, preparing for the pain of getting up, but determined to not let it deter him from finally getting a hold of that Priest and getting the hell out of this place before something _else _happened to him.

Someone giggled off to his right, and Key instantly froze in the act of opening his eyes and leaping out bed. Weighing several actions in his mind, he relaxed himself and instead lay quietly, wondering who was nearby. By the sound of the young, feminine voice, he doubted the person intended him ill, but in this day and age you could never be too careful.

Cracking open weighted eyelids, he slanted his head to the right and found to his dismay that his sight was once again foggy and blurred. He squinted and could just make out a female shape sitting in a chair by his bedside. The female, who he had to admit, was very well shaped, gasped when she caught his gaze, and leaned forward with a concerned frown.

She picked up something small in her hand and reached out toward his forehead in what Key assumed was a gesture to check on his health. Key grinned, remembering the maid in the infirmary. Before the shapely female could react, he snaked out a hand and hooked the girl around the shoulders as she leaned over him.

His sudden movement caught her off guard and she stumbled forward, just as he anticipated, and fell awkwardly on top of him, on the bed he was lying in. He grinned in satisfaction and patted her rear. Giving into the impulse, he then gave it a gentle squeeze. The female stiffened abruptly and gasped.

His blurry vision caught her face going red, but missed her expression of outrage, and so was completely unprepared when she gave him a resounding slap across the face.

And by the Sunwell, it hurt.

The girl quickly straightened herself up and jumped off the bed, landing agilely and twisting to give him a black glare. He glared back in response. How dare she lead him on and then behave thus!

The elf tossed odd colored hair behind her ears, and it was then that Key suddenly realized that it was not a Blood Elf that he had tried to grope, but a Night Elf. She had shoulder length green hair of the deepest sea green he'd ever seen, and the tell-tale curving ears that extended behind her head, an obvious trait of the Night Elves.

"What is your problem, you lecherous insensitive jerk!" Her outburst could have skewered him if it was a weapon. As it was, he inwardly winced at her sudden, acidic tone of voice, so different from her earlier giggle. Instantly, her eyes darted left to right, as if seeking something in particular. Fearing that she was looking for some convenient object to throw at him, Key raised placating hands.

"Hey lady, calm down! I just woke up and had a moment of confusion is all. Obviously if I had been more aware of my surroundings and your identity, I wouldn't have done what I did. My apologies. There, now take a deep breath, indignation does nothing for your color."

Despite his inner smirk, he regretted the last sentence as soon as he said it as the elf, who had been visibly relaxing, stiffened again, and glared daggers right through him with narrowed glowing eyes. Key gulped. Just when things would have gotten…tense, another night elf entered the room.

This one he recognized.

"Hey! You're that clumsy fool that tripped me with your polearm, which you so carelessly had lying around on the floor for some poor unsuspecting man to kill himself on! Watch what you're doing next time tree hugger! You're lucky I have more important matters to attend to at the moment."

The night elf, who had a wide grin on her face upon entering, glanced in confusion between Key and the furious girl elf half crouched near the end of the bed. '_Tree hugger?_' she plainly mouthed at the other elf.

"Okay, for one thing, how was I to know you were bumbling around behind me? I thought Blood Elves were supposed to be quick on their feet. For another thing, the healer told me your story and says that you should never have left the infirmary! Running around the village like a moron in full plate armor is not the best idea. I've always heard you Sin'dorei were all show and no smarts, now I have proof!"

She waved a hand in Key's general direction, and had the gall to stick her nose in the air. Key felt his face heating up with righteous anger. Dismissing him as something dealt with, the blue haired night elf then turned to the younger green haired one. Key was getting heartily sick of Moonglade and its denizens.

"What's got you in a tizzy Ana? That Horde didn't do anything to you did he? If he did he'll wish he never came to Moonglade!" She gave Key a threatening glance, before turning her attention back to the slight elf before her. Key rolled his eyes. Overprotective much? The young green haired Night Elf that he'd mistakenly groped pulled on the frayed hem of her worn leather tunic and slanted her eyes Key's way.

"It's nothing Aunt Ver, just…a mistake. We handled it." She nodded to emphasize this, and straightened up from her defensive crouch, as if only just then realizing she had looked ready to either attack or bolt for the door.

Her 'Aunt Ver' eyed her askance, the picture of suspicion, but the green haired elf just looked at her. During the exchange between the two, Key glanced around the room, and found that it had the general appearance of Inn rooms everywhere. He realized that the two elves must have brought him up here instead of back to the Infirmary, thankfully. He didn't think he'd be able to stand another lecture from 'Father Tauren'.

There was another bed across the small room from the one he had woken up on. This one was tidily made up with a small white flower he couldn't identify off hand lying innocently on the pillow. A nightstand stood between the two beds, complete with a small wooden lamp carved in the shape of a vine with a glowing ball on the top giving off a soft effervescent white light. Key snorted. He was also getting heartily sick of Night Elf design.

He hopped out of bed, made a mental assessment of his body and found things pretty much the way they were before 'Aunt Ver' had waylaid him with her polearm. Thankfully this time he hadn't been laid up long enough for the crazy tree huggers to strip him of his beloved armor, and therefore he did not have to flounder around looking for it.

The only article of clothing he was not wearing was his boots, which he found sitting quite neatly beside the bed. He pulled both boots on, stomped his feet a few times to get them settled, then stood up. Other then feeling faintly dizzy, with the slightly blurry vision that he was regrettably becoming used to, he was fine. Without a word he brushed past the two night elves, who glared at his back.

* * *

"How rude!" Anaiya hissed in fury as the Blood Elf breezed right past them without so much as a 'thank you' for hauling his worthless carcass up here to make sure he was okay. '_That was the last time she helped a member of the Horde! Well_,' she amended, thinking of Bessany_, 'at least the last time she helped out a stuck up Blood Elf.'_

Her aunt was still giving her looks, as if wondering what she had missed when she entered the room. Anaiya almost blushed just thinking about it. To think she had been concerned about the ingrate. She had just bent over to feel his forehead, the lecherous fiend. How dare he do that to her! Feeling herself getting heated up again with fury, Anaiya forced the Blood Elf from her thoughts, and focused on what was more important right now, which was that trinket.

"Have the Archdruids found anything new about the trinket Aunt Ver? Does it react to them like it did to me? Are you going to go on a grand adventure to find out the truth? Can I come with?" She paused for breath, thinking of all the exciting quests she could find herself completing while out to figure out the mystery of the small green artifact.

She was so caught up in her grandiose thoughts that she almost missed what her aunt said next. Quickly she turned her attention to the older elf as she spoke.

"Welllll," her aunt begrudgingly replied, unable to think of a valid reason not to tell Anaiya.

"Archdruid Dendrite Starblaze has determined that for some reason the artifact, or trinket, whatever you want to call the blasted thing, seems to have a special affinity to you, for some reason. We're not sure why it chose you of all people to attach itself to, but that is that. He has also determined that the gem seems to be…impatient, or anxious, about something. Since no one has of yet found a way to communicate with it, they've decided to let you hold it again, in the hopes that you can find more information. I don't agree with them obviously. You're still in training, for Tyrande's sake! They shouldn't be putting such a burden on one so young!" Her aunt clenched her hands and glared at the wall.

"It's okay Ver, I don't mind. I've always wanted to go on a grand adventure like in your stories. This is my chance! Oh but…what will I say to mother? And my training! I can't just leave that…can I?" Anaiya tried thinking up some plausible tale to relate to her mother when she saw her next. She had a feeling her mother would not be impressed by a small mysterious trinket that only she could communicate with that needed some kind of aid.

"Regardless, let's go downstairs and let your friends know that your ungrateful Blood Elf has stormed off." Ver said wryly, glancing at Anaiya. Anaiya blushed again, then felt annoyed at the reaction.

"He's not _my_ Blood Elf! I don't even know him. Besides, you're the one who tripped the moron." She sniffed and walked ahead of her aunt down the stairs and into the Inn's common room.

Of course Meliri and Bessany were both casually leaning against the counter that the Innkeeper was standing behind, helping potential clients.

"He left, without so much as a 'thank you'," Anaiya stated by way of greeting as she walked up to the two. Meliri scowled and crossed her arms.

"We saw." Bessany replied. "There was a Forsaken yelling at him as he was leaving. She ran after him when he ignored her." The bovine girl shrugged, causing her twin braids to fall across her chest. With the absent minded ease of someone long used to this, Bessany flicked the braids back over her shoulder.

"Whatever, I've lost interest in the jerk." Anaiya muttered darkly. She turned to her aunt then, her mind back on the small green gem. "Will they let me touch it now? I'd like to see if it will work again. I know you have all the time in the world Aunt Ver, but Mel and I have to head back to Darnassus soon for our training. We only came to watch the Trial."

She formed her lips into an exaggerated pout and glanced up at her aunt, batting her eyes for effect. Her aunt frowned at her.

"Ugh, you're as bad as I was when I was your age. Always wanting to go explore the lands and get into all manner of danger. Of course I never listened when everyone told me I was too young, not trained, no skill or world knowledge to my name. Did it stop me? No." She chuckled, then sighed. "Your mom is going to kill me, you know that?"

Anaiya grinned. Verfanas made her way to the door, weaving around the patrons of the Inn. Anaiya made a 'come on' motion with her head toward her two friends, and hurried after her aunt. She couldn't wait to hold the gem again.

Partly because she knew that if she was persistent, the druids would let her help when they finally discovered what was up with the small magical device, and partly for some reason she couldn't quite define. Almost a compulsion, a snagging in her mind, that made her want to be near the trinket, to hold it and make sure it was safe. Which was silly, she had no special attachment or feelings for the gem. It was just some artifact her aunt had. But there was the fact that it only seemed to react to Anaiya's touch.

All four of them traipsed over to the large dignified building that Archdruid Dendrite Starblaze usually resided. Inside they found the druid, as well as a few others, gathered around a central circular table with stone benches, upon which sat the small hexagonal shaped box. It glowed brightly and briefly as Anaiya entered the building, then faded back to its normal hue. Archdruid Starblaze glanced toward the door at this reaction, and noted the entourage.

"Ah, greetings Verfanas Cloudchaser. And this must be Anaiya!" He tipped his head slightly in greeting to both of them.

Anaiya glanced at her aunt, then bowed formally. Bessany and Meliri stayed back and hovered by the doorway so as to not get in the way and watched the proceedings from there. Verfanas confidently walked up to the table and seated herself at one of the benches, giving a murmured greeting to the other druids surrounding the table. They nodded back at her distantly. Anaiya hesitantly walked up to the table, feeling sort of like she ought not belong here. She wasn't anyone special or privileged.

Elune knew she wasn't powerful or skilled in her magic. But the small trinket was waiting for her, so she straightened up and walked more calmly. Her aunt smiled at her.

"Strange times these are, what with the Qiraji uprising in the south, and the Scourge running rampant all over the Eastern Kingdoms. Magical and mysterious artifacts are turning up all over the place, and most of them cursed or possessed. This one, we have reason to believe, was created as a magical prison to hold a great and powerful being. I believe that one of our Tauren brethren already gave you a brief explanation of the Emerald Dream and Hakkar?

" He arched a long purple eyebrow at Anaiya, who nodded, even though she barely remembered that conversation. She felt that confessing to her lack of attention wouldn't win her any favors with these druids. The Archdruid nodded back at her, satisfied, then turned his gaze back to the gem.

"I know you are just young and new to your calling, but I'll tell you that this trinket acts similar to a soul gem, in that it has captured the essence, the soul if you will, of the creature bound inside of it. Only an act of great will and strength, and through great risk, could one free the trapped soul within. As we have reason to believe, from your description of the being you encountered while wandering the Nightmare, the being trapped inside is possibly Eranikus, the lost consort of Ysera, the green Dragon Aspect." He paused thoughtfully.

"Which makes this situation even more dire," He continued in grave tones. "We know that Ysera is eternally asleep, watching over the Emerald Dream and the dream realm and battling the ever powerful Nightmare, so we cannot say for sure if she is aware of her consort's predicament, if it is indeed him. If it is, than action must be taken to free him from his imprisonment, or ensure that there is no threat being generated by having this soul gem. I'm still a bit mystified as to how Verfanas here managed to find this soul gem to being with."

He stared down at Verfanas, as if by willing it he could find out everything she knew. Verfanas grinned. "I told you, I was exploring in the Swamp of Sorrows…you know, that big dreary swampy place? Anyway, I was nosing around the water's edge by that old Temple when I saw something shiny wedged between two stone blocks. I pulled it out, cleaned it off, and stuck it in my backpack. That's all there is to it."

She told the story as if she had already said it a dozen times, but Anaiya was curious as to why her Aunt had gone all the way to this Swamp of Sorrows place just to explore. It seemed strange. She shrugged the curiosity off when the Archdruid lifted the gem off the table, gazing at it thoughtfully.

"First, we need to find if there is a way to actually communicate with the dragon trapped inside, and confirm its identity one way or the other. Then we can decide what to do from there. Anaiya child? I would not ask this of you, except that this gem seems to have soul bonded to you alone, and will not react in any way to any of us. There is great personal risk in doing this, I warn you. Do you understand the danger in entering the Nightmare again?"

Everyone was looking at her now. Anaiya fidgeted, not liking the feeling of being the center of everyone's attention. She sighed, then nodded. What was she supposed to say, no? Of course she barely knew any of what was going on, and only had a vague understanding of the Emerald Dream from her studies, but she felt as if she had to help that poor dragon.

The Archdruid gravely held out the small trinket, cupped gently in both hands. It seemed so small and fragile sitting there, as if the slightest movement would shatter it like delicate glass. Anaiya reached out a hand toward it, then pulled back and bit her lip. Did she really want to do this again? Now that she was actually confronted with it, the idea of entering that place again, of being lost and confused, did not appeal to her in the slightest.

She hadn't told them exactly how she had felt in the Nightmare, how she had come so close to losing her sense of 'self', what made her who she was. The Archdruid was still patiently holding the trinket out to her. Anaiya could feel herself start trembling with anxiety.

Taking a deep breath, and blanking her mind, she darted out her hand and picked up the gem before her logical senses told her to stop. The second she touched it, the gem flared bright green and became suddenly very hot. As before, the world fell away and Anaiya slumped to the floor.

This time the small trinket fell from her loosened grasp and rolled awkwardly until it hit Verfanas's foot. The Night Elf reached down and picked the object up. She wrinkled her nose at it, as if exasperated at its foolish antics, than placed it back in her niece's hand. Anaiya, she straightened out so she was lying comfortable, and placed her own cloak under the girl's head.

The other druids silently observed this, and Verfanas scowled at them. That's all they ever did in Moonglade, neutrally observe everything.

Oblivious to all of this, Anaiya once again found herself in a blackness without time, without substance, without footing. She briefly wondered how she was not endlessly falling, than the thought drifted away on the tide of black. This time in the Nightmare she found thinking and keeping a hold of her mind much easier, and was able, with some effort, to remember why she was here.

Thinking was possible, but it was very difficult and required her to concentrate fully on completing each thought as they formed, or her mind would again be lost to drift the darkness. This time it took her very little wandering to find the telltale green glow that signified she was nearing the dragon's prison.

Steeling herself, she drove her small soul wisp forward until she could again see the indistinct shape of the large green dragon. It was lying down in mid air, the black swirling all around its form malignantly. Watching the dragon lying in seeming midair was starting to make Anaiya queasy, so she instead focused on what she had come to learn.

"FOOLISH MORTAL, TO HAVE RETURNED!" Despite being prepared for it, the dragon's booming voice took her by surprise, and she could feel every word reverberate against her psych. Gathering her non existent courage, Anaiya floated closer and tried talking to the dragon. Try as she might, no sound came from her being, and she sighed.

Things were never easy. She took a few moments to think, then wondered if perhaps she could do the same thing as the dragon, project thought speak at another being, instead of trying to 'talk' like she would normally if she had a mouth and lungs. Silly of her to forget that she was nothing but a small soul wisp in this dimension. She frowned. She had no clue how to create mind speak and have it be heard by the dragon. Or what if her attempts at communication just made the large creature angry and it attacked her?

She wasn't sure what would happen if the spirit of the dragon attacked her spirit, but she knew it would have dire consequences for her. Nervously, she gathered up all the magic she possessed, could feel it humming like electric shocks in her mind, hazy and green to signify her ties to the earth and nature. Using her magic as a focal point, she sent out a greeting to the dragon.

**"Hello great dragon, I am Anaiya. I come seeking answers. I would know who I was speaking to, and what may I do to help?"**

She felt the words leaver her mind, floating on a tide of her nature magic, and gently waft toward the dragon. Startled, the dragon reared back his head, and spines along his neck stood straight up and bristling. Anaiya backed up slightly, glancing around to see if she could spot that white light that she remembered from last time.

She wanted to make sure that if the dragon reacted badly, she had a clear escape route. The dragon froze in his position, arched neck bending gracefully.

His transparent green eyes regarded her impassively for a few moments, then he said "RELEASE ME MORTAL! TORTURE ME NO MORE! IT HURTS! ITHARIUS, BROTHER, HELP ME!" The dragon screamed this into her mind, the pain of the words almost too much to bear.

She could feel her wisp form becoming wearied from withstanding the assault of the dragon's speech. She inwardly sighed. Apparently her words had either been ignored, or not understood by the dragon, who seemed lost to his madness. For a moment there she had hope of reaching him.

Although he had said something about a brother. Itharius? She firmly locked the name away and focused on remembering it. It was becoming increasingly difficult to hold on to her thoughts in this realm, and she kept getting this feeling of being coated in an oily darkness each time her wisp stilled.

So she hovered nervously back and forth, wondering if there was anything else she should try to gain a direct answer from the dragon. Obviously he was quite mad, at least in this place, and highly unstable. Suddenly the dragon spread his large webbed wings and whirled around so quickly and unexpectedly that Anaiya only had time to flinch when his long tail snaked around behind him and clouted her wisp form as he turned. Unable to keep balance while in this realm of no time or space, she was sent spinning away.

With relief she noted that the tail had flung her in the direction of that white light she remembered following back to the waking world last time. As she faded toward the light, and the Nightmare dropped away, she caught the sound of the dragon's voice, now full of rage and hatred, shouting something into the inky blackness behind her. With a strange sense of duality, she felt her body, and her soul, as they reunited, and with a gasp, she jerked into a sitting position.

Absently she noted that she was still in that building she had came to with her aunt. Her aunt was kneeling beside her, peering at her with concern, and behind her, Anaiya could see her friends standing, regarding her with shock. Before anyone could say anything, and in fear of forgetting, Anaiya held up a hand and blurted out,

"Itharius, the dragon's brother."

When her aunt and the Archdruids stared at her with blank faces, she sighed and wiped her nose, noting the line of blood that had trickled onto her lip.

"The dragon was begging his brother Itharius to come save him. That was all that I could find out. I tried talking to him but he either couldn't hear me, or was ignoring me. That dragon is mad." Anaiya shivered. Verfanas hugged her and petted her hair, which would have irritated Anaiya at any other time, for she was proud of her self-called maturity, but she was still shaken from her experience in the evil Nightmare.

"Well we have answered a few of our questions at least," Archdruid Starblaze said after a few moments of thoughtfully regarding Anaiya. "If the dragon speaks true, and I have no reason to believe his words to be lies, than he is indeed Eranikus, consort of the Dreamer, for Eranikus's brother was indeed named Itharius."

The Archdruid stooped and swept up the soul gem, then placed it gently inside a royal purple satchel with gold thread along the edge.

"We need to find a way to free the consort, for he would surely be a powerful asset to Ysera's battle with the Nightmare, and he is a risk while trapped in this mad state. I know not where Itharius is right now, but I do know of someone who keeps in touch with him from time to time. His name is Umbranse the Spiritspeaker, and he lives in the wilds of Winterspring, preferring to be as near to Mount Hyjal as he can get."

He didn't speak it, but it was obvious that he expected them to speak up and offer to accept this dangerous quest. Anaiya felt a thrill of excitement run through her. Winterspring! She'd only heard vague references to the land by her mother and other Sentinels in Darnassus.

She knew that it was always cold, being so far into the rocky mountainous terrain that surrounded Mount Hyjal. Before anyone else could say anything, she scrambled to her feet, wavering slightly once on her feet. She frowned. Standing up too fast was obviously not the best of ideas. Still, she concentrated through it, and held out her hand.

"I'll go to Winterspring and talk to this Spritspeaker. I believe this should be my task. I'm the only one the dragon has spoken to so far." The Archdruid arched a long eyebrow at her, than turned his eyes to Verfanas, who was giving Anaiya a firm and negative frown.

"Ana you can't go, that's madness. Winterspring is far away, through dangerous lands, and your barely past your initiation phase. You have no training or experience in combat. Your not ready. Archdruid, tell her she can't go." She folded her arms stubbornly and assumed a defensive stance.

The Archdruid glanced between the two, than shrugged. "The young are ever eager to prove themselves worthy of the praise of their elders. This young one yearns for your approval Verfanas Cloudchaser. I think it would unwise to turn her away. Teach her the ways of the wild, help her learn to survive in dangerous situations. Elune knows that there will come a time that we will ask every maiden and every boy child to help us. I fear that a darkness is coming."

His somber words sucked all the glee out of Anaiya's triumphant expression, and she instead felt a worm of worry inside. Maybe she was making a mistake. What did she actually know about the world? Textbook descriptions? She hardly thought that would be helpful when faced with the real wilderness.

She was going to be a liability, she just knew it, and knowing that made her spirits sink. But this was her first chance to get away from Darnassus! She was finally getting to experience all the things that her aunt always talked about when she came visiting. Quests and dashing heroes and saving the world and all the dangerous battles that went with it. If she backed away now, would she ever be able to forgive herself for losing this chance? And what if another situation came along, and she was too afraid then as well? She couldn't just run away now.

And for some reason she didn't know, the Nightmare had only reacted to her touch so far. She knew this was probably a bad thing, and meant she should stay away from the artifact, but she couldn't quite make herself keep distant. Whatever happened, she was now thoroughly involved.

Her aunt seemed to sense this, because her gaze then turned to a resigned grimace and she sighed. "I don't know Ana, this is a really big responsibility here, your going to leave civilization for quite some time. We'll be out on the trail, traveling at fast paces for most of the trip. We'd have to go through Felwood, a very evil forest, and Winterspring itself is no picnic. This could be bad, and you're so young…I'm not going to persuade you otherwise am I?" The last said in response to Anaiya hardening her expression and giving her aunt big doe eyes at the same time. The face made Verfanas grin.

"Fine. But when we finally get back to Darnassus, I'm telling your mother you followed us on your own after we forbade you to come." She shook her finger threateningly, then grabbed Anaiya around the shoulders and gave her an affectionate squeeze. "Come on, I'll give ya a crash course in outfitting an expedition."

They headed for the exit, having completely forgotten the Archdruids and Anaiya's watching friends. Archdruid Starblaze cleared his throat and held aloft the satchel containing the soul gem. "Forgetting something?" He asked. Sheepishly, Verfanas walked back and grabbed the bag. She nodded a thanks to him.

"Go with Moonglade's blessing, and Elune watch over you on your quest. Let us hope you are successful in freeing Eranikus, I fear there is more here than meets the eye." His grim parting words chased the two out into the twilight evening of Nighthaven.

Meliri and Bessany quickly followed.

"So you're really going to travel to Winterspring? I hear that they have white bears the size of kodos!" Bessany exclaimed once they were on the path. She glanced around nervously, as if expecting a kodo-sized bear to jump out on her.

"Ana…are you sure you're thinking this through? My grandmother went to Winterspring a decade ago to visit with a skilled Engineer about a schematic. She told me such horrible stories I couldn't sleep for days!" Meliri's soft voice chimed in as well, concerned for her friend.

Her friends continued to regale her and frighten her with stories about the lands she would encounter on her journey to Winterspring, but they did nothing to dampen Anaiya's determination to see this quest through. She felt that she had started something that was on such a grand scale that she had no choice but to be drawn to finish it.

* * *

"What are you doing?"

The raspy, demanding voice interrupted Key's explanation of what sort of provisions he'd need for his trek. Turning from the meats merchant that he had been bargaining with, he saw Shana standing behind him, feet planted and hands on her boney hips. Her decayed lips were pursed in irritation. Key frowned at her.

"What does it look like I'm doing, I'm getting some supplies together so we can get out of this mad town. I assume you _are_ coming me, are you not? If not fine, I'll go alone. These druids are driving me crazy. I'm going to take the path through Timbermaw Hold into Felwood, and with luck I'll run across a fellow member of the Horde who can direct me toward a town of some note so that I may have a mage open a portal back to Silvermoon City. I don't intend to just sit here while Tranquillien needs our aid, and I have some…documents of the utmost importance that I need to get to Deathstalker Maltendis."

Shana was shaking her head firmly by the time he was finished, strands of weed-like hair swaying back and forth around her skull.

"No. Didn't you listen to what the druid healers told you? Aren't you the least bit concerned for your health? Even if your not, I am. I didn't just drag you to this continent for nothing! You need to have a druid cleanse that poison out of your system frequently, and you can't do that if your traipsing around the countryside. And you need to start looking for a cure for whatever that poison is. I have some connections with the Rogue quarter in Undercity, I can ask a few friends of mine…"

She trailed off as Key, who had tuned her out, wandered over to peruse a pair of felt boots on sale on one counter. The merchant selling them, sensing he might make a sale, eagerly followed Key's steps, and quickly stepped in to address the fine points of the pair of boots. Shana sent both a black look, then, determined to keep an eye on the paladin, braced herself against the wall by the door where she could watch Key's movements throughout the room.

Key knew she was annoyed with him, but he did his best to ignore her standing behind him as he inspected the items on display in the shop. Eventually he bought several packages of various types of smoked goods that would last longer while traveling, along with some rope, plenty of fresh water, a couple of potions that the merchant swore were extremely strong for their low price, and a few other odds and ends that he thought might be needed on the trip.

After spending a half hour in the shop, he was satisfied with the supplies he had, and ventured outside again. Shana followed after him like a dark shadow. If he was being completely honest, having the Forsaken at his back made him slightly edgy. By this time he was feeling fairly exhausted, and hoped that this was the effect of being unconscious and in danger of losing his life, and not a sustained effect of the poison. That thought brought him back to the problem of the poison itself.

He could feel it inside him, a leech draining his magic and life force away slowly tick by tick. He knew what Shana said was right, and that he needed to face this and find a way to cure himself, but he always knew that he had to get back to the Ghostlands as soon as possible.

He never wanted to be there in the first place, but once he accepted the responsibility of helping the beleaguered outpost, he felt it his duty to see it through to the end. Being trapped here was wearing on his mind. From across two bridges and right outside one building, he caught the flash of brilliant colors and groaned when he recognized the elf who's polearm had caused such vexation earlier. Beside her he saw that little minx he'd groped as well. He grinned; she was a pretty little thing wasn't she, even for a Night Elf.

The taller, blue haired elf was holding up a length of thick bristly rope, and talking in earnest to her companion, who was bobbing her head along in apparent agreement. The younger green haired one was also carrying an armful of what looked like tasteful tanned leather armor, complete with boots and a feathered headdress.

He mused that the armor must be for the young naïve girl, and wondered what the two were up to. Oh well, not his business. He walked back to the Inn, where he had paid the Innkeeper to hold onto his armor for him while he searched for supplies. Shana protested again about his leaving while he donned his armor, but he ignored her.

He placed his packs on a table by the door, and sat down for a rest, seeing as how his head had started pounding soon after he'd entered the Inn. Not long after he'd sat down, the two now-familiar night elves entered as well. He stared at them in shock, then narrowed his eyes.

Were they following him? If so, what were they after? Instantly suspicious, he went over possible reasons for their deliberately stalking him in his mind, only to realize he was being foolish. What plausible reason could they want to follow him? To kill him or cause him harm? They'd already caused problems with that clumsy woman's polearm, and they helped him afterward. They didn't know who he was, and had no idea of the battle he was involved in back in the Ghostlands.

Likely they'd never even been out of Moonglade. That young for sure. He snorted, but strained his ears to catch their conversation anyway. While he was doing that, Shana insisted on pestering him again.

"Keyanomir Sunblade, be sensible! We need to know what kind of threat that poison is. So that we can alert Tranquillien. They need to know how to cure it and how to prevent others from being infected. You need to have it looked at by a Druid! Keyanomir?"

Her sigh was loud and offensive. At the same time, Key was listening in on the fascinating interaction between the two elves, who had conveniently chosen a table near him to put their equipment on and gather up their own supplies. He grinned.

"-to be a few rules when we get out there in the wilderness, okay? First of all, you need to obey me in all things. I can't have to be concerned about you in a fight because you won't listen to my orders." The older elf placed flint and tinder in a belt pouch, all the while explaining and advising her young protégé.

"It will be dangerous, as the others have warned you. I'm afraid they weren't exaggerating. You need to be prepared to take injury, and to deal with it as swiftly as possible. I don't expect you to be a seasoned combatant overnight, or to take to traveling so quickly, but I do expect you to not be a hindrance, and to be honest if you feel you need a rest or if something is too difficult for you. Agreed?" She stopped loading paper wrapped packages into a sack to give the green haired girl a searching look.

The girl nodded in accordance, most of her attention focused on her own task, which was folding up cloth for bandages into neat little squares for her own, smaller, backpack.

"Good. Now here's what I have planned. The Timbermaw know me so we should have no problem going through their territory. Well go through the pass that leads through the mountains at the edge of Moonglade, and enter Winterspring from that point. Hopefully that way we can avoid Felwood altogether. That is a horrid place to be, full of evil tricksome creatures…"

Key lost interest in hearing the rest of their chatter. He swung back around suddenly and leaned toward Shana, who had been pointedly glaring at the tabletop. She startled back at his sudden movement, then eyed him askance.

"What?" She asked in a sharp voice.

"I just solved our problem." Key grinned, displaying well looked after white teeth. Shana stared at him blankly, and he chuckled.

"Those two druids over there are going the same way we are. We'll just go with them. They may be filthy Alliance, despite their physical appeal, but as you keep reminding me, I do need to have this…toxin, kept in check frequently or it will consume me. What better way to achieve both our goals than to travel with our own personal druids?" He jerked his thumb behind him at the two night elves.

Shana raised an eyebrow, glanced over his shoulder, then raised the eyebrow higher.

"That's your solution? Just hook up with a couple of traveling Alliance and hope that they either don't kill us or laugh in our faces the second we leave Moonglade?" She snorted.

"That poison must have addled your wits. Even if they are peaceful Alliance, how are you going to get them to agree to this…foolishness? I hardly think a 'Say, want to be traveling buddies?' will go over well."

He waved away the priest's negative comments, instead already planning how smooth his trip would go if he had a druid with him to keep him from collapsing until he could get back to the Eastern Kingdoms. Once he'd arrived there, he'd seek a Rogue or a Druid that was more world wise than these backwoods Moonglade Druids to help him figure out how to cure the poison.

Hopefully the curing wouldn't take longer than a couple of days, although he feared he was being optimistic in saying that, and then he'd be on his way back to Tranquillien with the documents. Once he was finished with this tangled mess he was in, he was going to drink himself into oblivion for a whole week in Silvermoon before he even looked at another mission text.

The most immediate problem though, at the moment, appeared in getting the Druids to go along with them. Obviously he couldn't threaten or force them, at least not whilst still in Moonglade. He didn't imagine that going over well. He also did not want to appear a weak sniveling coward who couldn't venture out into the wilds of Azeroth alone.

He needed to make it come across as a proposition, something that would be of mutual benefit.


	10. Ch 10: If At First You Don't Succeed

A/N: Hmmmm, finally another chapter eh? Very sorry! This time I feel ashamed of myself because my boyfriend bought me RIFT and I've gotten sucked right into the bloody game. Curse you RIFT! But I still love WoW, and I still eagerly look forward to writing this story! Thank you for all the reviews, they make me happy. I love seeing new ones. I would apologize on the shortness of this chapter, except that it was important to get the boring details of their grouping up in, and for some reason at the point where I ended it seemed like such a good ending point for a chapter, despite being so brief. It was like the story just latched onto me and demands certain...things to happen in each chapter. Since I accomplished what I needed to in this one, I ended it so that we can have a nice fresh paper to start the adventure on. And believe me, what an adventure they are going to have :). Thank you to all of you loyal readers who have read this from the beginning and stuck with me, and again thank you for the lovely reviews. I'm quite proud to own 12 now! With that, enjoy your chapter. And be assured that there is more to come!

* * *

Chapter 10: If At First You Don't Succeed, Alcohol Is Not For You!

"I feel guilty for leaving everyone at the Enclave so recently after being accepted there." Anaiya quietly admitted this while folding up various odds and ends that her aunt handed her across the table. Verfanas raised an eyebrow.

"It's your choice Ana, no one can force you to go or stay. This is a serious undertaking and you can't be having regrets while on this journey."

Anaiya bit her lip, than sighed heavily. "Alright, I will just have to make the best of my decision and live with the consequences. No one will stop me from going through with this!" She grinned suddenly. "I wonder if I'll get to meet any Dwarves. I hear such interesting tales about them."

Her eyes wandered as she finished tying off the ends of a length of leather and found, much to her dismay, that the occupants of the nearby table were none other than her "favorite" stuck up blood elf and his Forsaken companion. Without consciously realizing it, she wrinkled her nose in disgust at sighting the blood elf.

She was even further put out by the fact that he was in fact looking in their general direction and seemed to be studying her quite thoroughly. Anaiya gave him a full glare before turning her attention back to her work. She just knew that no good scheming elf was up to something by the way he was regarding her.

Even with her back turned, she could feel his eyes on her, and it was making her uncomfortable. Trying not to squirm noticeably, she scowled at the pile of belongings still stacked neatly by her backpack.

"What did that poor little chunk of thorium do to you to deserve such a black look?" her aunt's amused inquiry made Anaiya blink and glance up.

"Huh?" Was her intelligent response. "Oh, nothing. It's that blasted Blood Elf. I think he's stalking us." Verfanas frowned skeptically.

"No really, look, but don't make it too obvious!" Anaiya jerked her head slightly to indicate Ver should look behind her. Rolling her eyes, the older druid slowly and casually stretched, yawned, than glanced around. Her eyes narrowed upon seeing the Blood Elf watching them closely.

The Undead female was sitting with her arms folded in front of her, holding something, giving the elf scathing glances now and then. "Eh, he's probably admiring your beautiful body." Verfanas commented off-handedly, brushing the circumstance aside. Anaiya blushed.

"Well he can admire someone else's body, I don't want his lecherous eyes on me" She muttered darkly, too quietly for her aunt to hear. After she'd almost completely packed away every item that her aunt had made her buy (with her aunt's money for the most part since she barely had enough savings from her training), Anaiya was becoming quite irate at the constant staring she was getting from the Blood Elf.

He obviously wouldn't take the glares she occasionally sent him as hint enough to shove off and leave her alone. If anything every time she glared at him, he became more amused by the situation. Determined that enough was enough, she suddenly stood up.

Verfanas had long since finished her packing, having done this before dozens of times, and was now giggling into a half full mug of port that a "thoughtful buddy" had poured for her about ten minutes ago. Studiously ignoring her aunt's startled blinking at her abrupt standing, Anaiya pushed back her chair and swung around.

Sure enough, the Blood Elf was still staring. Gritting her teeth, Anaiya marched over to his chair and smirked at the height difference she had over him while he sat. Not at all perturbed, the elf settled back further into his chair and tilted his head up to gaze at her with a smile pasted on his face.

The Forsaken was nervously shifting her eyes between the two and fingering a string of shining white beads that snaked around one skeletal hand.

"Is there something I can assist you with, young night blossom?" The blood elf asked in an amused tone.

"Ya, there is." Anaiya snapped back. "You can stop staring at us, its getting really irritating. What's your problem anyway?"

The Forsaken across the way chuckled, earning her a frown from her erstwhile companion.

"Well, my voluptuous young companion, I have a proposition for you. Something that would be of benefit to myself and of course you as well. Would you like to hear me out?" He raised a long blonde eyebrow suggestively. Anaiya scoffed.

"In your dreams elf. I hardly think anything you have would be of interest to me. I don't even know you."

She turned to go, and thinking quickly, Key called out "even if it has to do with your precious dragon trinket?" Anaiya froze with her back turned, in the process of returning to her own table and forgetting all about mister green eyes.

She turned back around slowly.

"How do you know about the soul gem? What do you know about it?"

The blood elf sent a wink in the Undead's direction, who just rolled her eyes and fastidiously picked at her graying nails. Instead of answering Anaiya, who was hovering near his side, he turned back to his drink, took a sip, then hooked one of the empty chairs at the table, pulling it out slightly.

"Have a seat while we talk why don't you babe? This could take a few minutes." He gave her an innocent grin, which she frowned at. She was getting awefully sick of the pet names. Weighing her options, and the concerned glances her aunt was giving her, Anaiya decided that it wouldn't hurt to go along with the Blood Elf, if only to see if he actually did know anything about the trinket or was just spouting rumors he'd heard around the village.

She reluctantly sat in the chair, and a serving maid immediately wandered over with a small porcelain cup with red tinted liquid inside. Thinking she'd somehow been maneuvered into something, Anaiya pushed the cup aside and turned her attention to the elf.

"You were saying?" She demanded sharply. Normally she'd be more respectful toward others she'd just met but this particular elf had worn her hospitable nature thin.

"Oh yes, what _was_ I saying? Shana, do you recall?" He waved a hand at the Undead, who ignored him. He shrugged and took another sip of his drink.

"Oh yes, your little dragon crusade. Well, one hears things. I couldn't help but pick up the story of the girl elf who fainted dead away at the table after touching a mysterious artifact. Druids just love a good mystery to study. Especially if it involves their precious Emerald Dream. I know where your relative found the trinket, the Temple of Atal'Hakkar. I've been there myself actually. Nasty place."

He paused for effect, watching Anaiya's reaction. Anaiya thoughtfully mulled this information over, thinking regretfully that it sounded valid, although she still didn't trust him.

"Okay so you listen in on gossip, what does that have to do with my quest?" She admitted she was curious despite herself.

"I admit I have no interest in your quest and know nothing about this dragon trapped in your trinket, but what I do know is that if you found it inside the Temple, it has something to do with Hakkar. And Hakkar, I know plenty about, including his current location."

"Hakkar?" Anaiya echoed, lost for a few moments. Then she remembered what that one Druid had told her, about the powerful creature, Hakkar, who some Trolls worshipped as a God. The idea that she would be involved with an incredibly ancient and evil creature like that hadn't occurred to her before, and she wondered again if this undertaking was a good idea.

"How do you know anything about this Hakkar? And why would you just tell me this? You don't strike me as all that inclined towards altruism."

Again the Forsaken snickered from across the table.

The male across from her heaved a loud, exaggerated sigh, and gave her a put upon look. She stared back. He sighed again.

"I admit, I have but a simple request for my valuable information. I would ask to accompany you when you leave for Winterspring, along with Shana of course."

He added the last as if an afterthought, with a gesture at the Forsaken woman.

"And perform a simple cleansing spell every morning while on our journey. I would be very grateful for your aid, and I'll willingly give you all the information I have on Hakkar and his cult." He paused dramatically, waiting to see what Anaiya thought.

She was staring at him with mouth open, and he cringed. So his plan to make himself an invaluable asset to the pair of Druids hadn't exactly been very intelligent, but what choice did he have? He had to get out of Moonglade, he couldn't leave by himself, and these two were the perfect candidates.

"Why do you need a cleansing? How do I know this isn't just some Horde trick to get us alone so you and your friend can ambush us and-"

"And what?" He interrupted with bemusement, "steal your precious little soul gem? I honestly have no interest in it, or anything else you may have on you."

His eyes wandered down her figure before he could stop himself, and he quickly focused on the table.

"I simply wish to get back to the Eastern Kingdoms as quickly as possible. As to needing a cleansing, you said you knew why I was here. Obviously you didn't pay much attention beyond the bare details."

"Oh really?" Anaiya felt just a tiny bit of concern despite herself, she would never wish suffering or harm on another and the story she'd heard about how the Blood Elf arrived in Moonglade made her inwardly cringe. But she couldn't recall anything else beyond that he'd been healed and had ran out the infirmary door the second he woke up. He looked fine to her, if a little pale.

But then, she wasn't sure if that was normal Blood Elf color or not since she'd only ever met this one. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of her aunt watching her with apparent concern, as if deciding whether she should come over and see what was going on.

Anaiya shook her head in Ver's direction and gave an 'ok' motion to prove that everything was fine. Then she turned back to the male elf and raised a brow. Key sighed, seeing as how the druids obviously hadn't paid much attention when they'd 'gotten his story', as they'd claimed earlier.

So he explained his unique…problem to the girl, and watched her expression change to one of sympathy and concern. She unconsciously leaned forward slightly, as if wanting to make sure he was okay herself. Really, Night Elves were too caring.

"So if you wouldn't mind we'd appreciate being able to travel with you as far as Everlook. There's a Goblin transportation device there that I've heard will transport us a similar machine in Stranglethorn Vale. In exchange, we'll be extra defense against dangers, and I can give you all the information I know on Hakkar and the Nightmare. From what I know of it, you'll need all the help you can get if you plan on going through with your quest."

He gave her sincere eyes, hoping she'd go along with it. He was pretty sure she would say yes, since most Night Elves were, by nature, a caring, nurturing race, and hated seeing any creature in pain.

The idea that he'd suffer if they didn't let him come along wouldn't sit well with her, he knew. Shana was still avoiding looking at either of them, afraid she'd burst into laughter if she did. Anaiya chewed on her lip, glancing between the blood elf, and her table where her aunt was still sitting, occasionally giving them glances while she chatted with a few elves and tauren who wandered by.

She didn't want to say anything to the blood elf one way or another until she'd talked with her aunt, since her aunt was older and more experienced, and might see something about this story that Anaiya would miss. But she also felt sympathy for the elf, to have such a terrible thing happen to him. She sighed.

"Let me talk it over with my…um, traveling companion. Prepare your things for travel. If she agrees, you'll need to be ready to leave quickly."

The blood elf nodded at her, and gave her a wide smile, which made her feel vaguely like a hound that had performed the required trick. Without thinking, she downed the reddish liquid in her glass and got up from the table.

The drink was horrid tasting, and obviously alcohol of some sort, she recognized the tang of it. Great, just what she needed. Already her head felt a bit heavy and her tongue too thick and dry. She swayed slightly once standing, feeling a wave of unbalance before she grew accustomed to her new state. Ugh, how Dwarves practically lived off this stuff was beyond her.

With a threatening scowl at the blood elf as warning when he made a move to "assist" her, she turned and slowly made her way back to where her Aunt was sitting. She sat heavily down in her chair, sighed, and shook her head slightly. Unfortunately this only made her slightly tipsy situation worse and she had to hold back the sudden urge to toss up her last meal.

Since said meal consisted of items that she had no desire to see on the return trip, she tried evening out her breathing and focusing on a grainy blemish in the table to keep her mind off the sick feeling. Her aunt sidled her chair over beside Anaiya and patted her on the back somewhat sympathetically.

"S'okay Ana, you'll get usshh…ush? used to it eventually…hic!" Feeling justified now that she'd quite thoughtfully reassured her niece, Verfanas turned herself around and gave a blurry glare toward the table where the two Horde were still sitting, apparently deep in some discussion.

Anaiya sighed, not feeling at all reassured by her aunt's behavior. She really did not want to 'get used to it', having had no desire to drink the stuff to begin with. And her aunt's fluctuating behavior and habits left her feeling amused and slightly concerned for the journey ahead.

Maybe it _would_ be a good thing to have that Blood Elf trail along after them. Somehow she got the impression that her aunt didn't always think things through beforehand.

"Sho, what did that no-good pansshy want with you anyway Ana?" Anaiya was brought out of her thoughts by her aunt's somewhat loud words 'whispered' into her ear. Really, Night Elves had sensitive hearing at the best of times, and right now she didn't feel at her best.

So her aunt's comment sent her head throbbing, and Anaiya groaned in dismay. So much for an early start on their journey. From the looks of it, her aunt wouldn't be sober enough to leave Nighthaven till around noon the next day, and Anaiya wasn't feeling up to any traveling either.

"We were just going over the last little bits of our traveling arrangement."

Anaiya decided to see how that would go over with her aunt, since she couldn't think of any other way to broach the subject anyway. Somewhere in the background light music started up, followed by a high lilting singing voice telling the story of some sort of dragon slaying.

Her aunt swung around, full attention on her young charge, and blinked twice, glowing white eyes a bit unfocused.

"Say what? What arrangement? That was fast. What exactly have you two been doing when I wasn't around?" Anaiya sighed. Her aunt was now giving her the kind of look her mother always donned whenever Anaiya did something…not necessarily bad, but at least without permission.

"We haven't been doing _anything_ other than talking at the table, where you watched us like a vulture the whole time, as if you didn't know. I'd never do anything…like what your thinking anyway."

Anaiya blushed. "Least of all with that dirty, womanizing elf." Verfanas nodded absently, again patting Anaiya on the shoulder.

"Anyway, the point is, they're going to be traveling with us when we head out to Winterspring to talk to that Spiritspeaker person, whatever his name was. They…I think that it would be of mutual benefit if we journeyed together, since we're going in the same direction anyway. And we'll part ways at Everlook, which I'm assuming is some sort of town in Winterspring. He has some information that could be valuable to our quest."

Anaiya let out a breath, feeling better for having said it, and now that she did say it, the idea did make a certain sort of sense to her, and her compassionate side told her that she'd feel horribly guilty if she just left the poor elf behind, even if he deserved it.

When she received nothing but silence in return from her somewhat drunken companion, Anaiya sent her aunt a look, only to sigh in exasperation when she found a snoring passed out Night Elf drooling onto the table. Anaiya wrinkled her nose.

Thankfully, a few of Verfanas's friends, who apparently weren't all that surprised by her aunt's predicament, carried the comatose druid upstairs to her room. Soon after, her human rogue came in. Before he could even enquire as to her aunt's whereabouts, Anaiya pointed up the stairs and slumped further into her chair. It was now getting on in the night, and she was left here with the packs and supplies for their journey.

Eventually she carted all the things up to her own room, then went back downstairs to kindly ask the Innkeeper to have her awakened at a suitable hour in the morning. She was determined to get this started. Somewhere inside, she had this urgent feeling, like a frantically beating heart, except different, this dreaded feeling that they needed to be gone from here and in Winterspring as quickly as possible.

She felt that by communicating with the trapped dragon in the Nightmare, she'd awakened something else, and could almost feel its sinister eyes upon her as she crawled under the woolen blankets, tracing a finger idly over a leafy pattern at the hem.

* * *

Back downstairs, Key grinned triumphantly at Shana, who rolled her eyes in return.

"For Sylvanas' sake, wipe that smug grin off your face before I melt it off with a spell." She warned threateningly, eyeing her companion in disgust.

"It's not as if your idea was anything fantastic or ingenious. So much for grandiose plans and plots." She snorted amusedly. "She really doesn't like you, you know. I find that kind of funny considering that most girls who've met you end up falling all over you." Shana appeared to think about this, than chuckled some more.

Key pouted. "She just doesn't see what a babe I am. I took the wrong approach before, but can you blame me? I was clearly confused and disoriented. Just you wait, soon she'll be begging for me."

He smirked, draping one armor clad arm over the back of his chair. This just sent Shana into a fit of giggles. He pouted some more, than grew serious.

"Well, it seems we've gotten ourselves a pet druid, at least until Everlook. Now hopefully that conversation I overheard from those two drunk Tauren will prove true and we can use that transportation device in Everlook to get us to Booty Bay."

Using his other arm, he rubbed his chin, then grimaced upon feeling bristly whiskers. He'd have to shave in the morning before leaving. Had to look his best to impress….whatshername, that Night Elf. What was her name anyway?

"And you really want to place our well being into the hands of some lunatic gnome or goblin? I'm not so sure about this Keyanomir. I've heard plenty of stories about their so called flight-worthy zeppelins. Not to mention their other inventions. I know we need to find a fast way back to the Eastern Kingdoms, but I don't think getting ourselves killed by a crazed engineer who's insurance policy is to make sure our relatives receive our body parts is the best way to go about this." Shana insisted, frowning in slight worry.

Being a typical Forsaken made her overly cautious with risking her life, and using an gnome/goblin designed teleportation device to get from one continent to another, when half the things those creatures made always exploded in their face instead, didn't seem like such a good way to spend her time.

Maybe by the time they arrived in Everlook she'd have come up with a better plan. Not to mention she was concerned for Key, having grown close to her comrades and party members while they were together, and he was the only one left that she knew of still.

She had no idea how they were going to deal with the curse once they _did _arrive in Booty Bay.

Hopefully Key had a plan, because she had rarely traveled outside of Silverpine Forest, and had only went to Tranquillien at the behest of her queen. The situation sure went downhill fast, she thought mournfully, and sipped delicately at her drink.

Eventually the Inn thinned out, and Key and Shana drifted off to their beds, wanting a few hours sleep before their journey tomorrow, because they knew they would have to keep their wits about them, traveling with whimsical Alliance members.


	11. Ch 11: The More the Merrier

A/N: Yay, another chapter! Hello all and thank you for the lovely praise for last chapter. I sure hope this one also generates lots of love (aka reviews!). This one is slightly longer than most because for some reason it just flowed so neatly together that I lost track of the length and before you know it I had 8 pages already! (On my writing program, sadly this doesn't look as long when converted to fanfiction . net.) Well enjoy the story everyone!

* * *

Chapter 11: The More The Merrier

It seemed to Anaiya that no sooner had she put head to pillow than she was being roughly and persistently shaken awake again. Irritation and confusion warred to be forefront in her mind, and she batted the hands away groggily. The hands went away for a brief moment, which made Anaiya relax with sleepy satisfaction and almost drift away back to the land of dreams.

Suddenly the hands came back with a vengeance, tearing the blankets off her and shaking her shoulder incessantly. Finally, with a resigned groan, she cracked one groggy eye open and peeked around. She was lying in an awkward position, twisted around so she was lying on her chest but with her legs splayed out and her head to the side.

For some reason, as she woke completely, she had the odd impression that there was something important she'd missed. She sat still for a few moments, blinking rapidly to dispel the sleep spots from her eyes.

Suddenly a throb seemed to descend on her skull from nowhere, forcing her to bring her hands to the side of her head and automatically start massaging her temple.

The owner of the hands snorted in amusement and Anaiya, having forgotten that she had been awakened by someone else and not of her own volition, paused mid rub and quickly glanced around, breathing in relief when she recognized the Innkeeper's daughter, Naluri. The Innkeeper must have sent her daughter to wake Anaiya up just like she'd asked last night. She had asked, hadn't she?

For some reason last night seemed a bit hazy, and trying to recall details made her head hurt more.

"Here, my mamma says to drink this when you are too much into your cups the night before, it helps get rid of the hangover." Thoughtfully the woman held out a small vial filled with a dark colored liquid, smiling generously.

Anaiya frowned. What was the girl talking about, hangover? She wasn't drunk! Oh wait, now she remembered, she had drank that whole mug of alcohol, whatever it was, right after talking to that insufferable Blood Elf. Even though she knew it was silly, she found herself blaming the Horde male just the same, consoling her aching head with the idea of getting back at him somehow.

Again, the girl gestured with the small vial, proffering it quite insistently toward the suffering Night Elf. With a grateful nod, Anaiya took the vial from the young elf's hands. She held it up to her lips, reflexively taking a sniff before drinking.

The liquid smelled kind of odd, not like anything she'd ever smelled before, kind of a minty scent, with a hint of cherries? She shrugged, then closed her eyes and drank it all in one swallow, figuring that if it was good enough to get rid of hangovers, it probably didn't taste very good. True enough, the stuff tasted horrid on her tongue, and she immediately made a disgusted face.

Naluri giggled, taking the now-empty vial back and placing it in an apron pocket while Anaiya was wiping her lips on her sleeve and grimacing.

"Everyone who drinks that stuff has the same reaction, but it really does help," the other Elvin assured her.

Anaiya nodded her thanks, and waved the girl away, wanting some privacy to dress. The serving girl left the room with a last glance, heading in the direction of what Anaiya assumed to be her aunt's room. She grinned. Her aunt probably had a worse hangover than she did.

Quickly she changed into the traveling attire that her aunt had purchased for her yesterday; a supple lion skin tunic edged in tan fur, a pair of tight fitting brown breeches, also trimmed in matching tan fur, and a durable dark brown leather belt with a shiny buckle. She attacked several small pouches to her belt, to hold the odds and ends her aunt had also bought for her.

Into a drawstring cloth bag she dumped the small amount of coin that she had brought with her from Darnassus. She hadn't decided on the best items to buy while in Moonglade, so had saved her money until she had come across something worthwhile. Now she was grateful that she hadn't given into impulse and bought some silly gadget. She somehow knew she'd want the money while on her journey.

She pulled on her boots, hand made by Meliri earlier in the year out of boar hide, stomping her feet several times to get comfortable. Lastly, she settled her light traveling gloves on her hands, then reached down and gathered up the straps to her backpack, swinging it up between her shoulder blades. To finish the ensemble was a slim, but sturdy looking oaken staff with a curlicue design at the top and curling ivy carved along the length.

This had been a gift from her new Tauren friend Bessany. Having never held a weapon other then the small dagger permitted her by the Priestesses of the Moon, Anaiya had quickly grown quite proud of her staff.

Standing in the center of her small room, she glanced at her surroundings one last time, checking to be sure she hadn't forgotten anything. She had left a thank you note on the wooden night stand, and had tidied the room as best she could. And now it was time to leave. A rising sense of thrill and anxiety had been building inside her belly as she dressed and assembled her gear.

She was both looking forward to, and dreading, this expedition. She stepped outside her room, and only quick footwork saved her from colliding quite painfully with her aunt, who had been coming from the other direction. Thankfully she spotted her aunt at the last moment and had managed to dance out of the way, brushing up against a large stone statue that was standing nearby. Once she caught her balance, Anaiya cheerfully grinned at her aunt's sour expression.

"Good morning Aunt Ver. How are you this fine day? Ready to head out?" Her aunt made a face, turning a slightly different shade, and squinted in the bright sunlight streaming through high arched windows.

"There is never anything good about mornings. I'd enjoy them better if they started later." That said, Verfanas made her way gingerly down the stairs and over to the main desk, where the Innkeeper was already at work setting out dishes of hot soup and washing cooking implements in between orders.

Anaiya took the stairs a bit more sedately, not wishing her head ache to return. Her aunt obviously either refused the wonderful hangover concoction, or it wasn't potent enough for her strenuous drinking habits.

From behind her, a stair creaked, and Anaiya was so startled she almost missed a step, turning around to see who was behind her. It was only the human rogue that was besotted with her aunt, wearing nothing but a loose pair of pants. His black hair was tousled and he looked about as hung-over as her aunt. As he stumbled past her, Anaiya shook her head, raising an eyebrow in amazement.

* * *

Key awoke to hearing muffled swearing and irritable voices. At first he was somewhat bewildered, glancing around the room several times before he remembered where he was and why. After several seconds, the voice that had woken him became understandable, and he recognized it as the older, drunk druid that had accompanied that pretty young elf maiden around yesterday.

Apparently, the aunt was annoyed at being woken up at such an "Elune-cursed hour" and had thrown something breakable, which crashed against the wall separating his room from hers. Another softer voice then spoke, saying words Key couldn't hear.

After a few moments, everything quieted down, but Key figured that that was his signal to get dressed and ready to travel, as he was sure that the pair of druids would be heading out soon. And even though the sweet young maiden had said they would accompany each other, he wanted to make sure that they all left together.

He rolled out of bed and started dressing with practiced efficiency, pausing only to nudge Shana awake in the bed next to him. "-Not be forgotten! For Sylvanas!" With a startled yell, Shana sat straight up in bed, a small brightly glowing dagger in hand. Key held up both hands and backed slightly away from her, more than a little disturbed by her response.

Seeing her comrade, Shana attempted to look ashamed and stowed the weapon away back where it came from and gracefully leapt out of bed, a lithe boney creature. Catching on quickly, she said not a word but began gathering her things as well.

Not surprisingly, she finished quicker than Key, seeing as how she only had a dress and a staff to gather, along with a small pack of rations and supplies, while he had to fix his armor and gather up his weapon and shield, along with his other supplies. Shana offered to help but damn it, cursed or not, he would carry his own things. He wasn't some helpless invalid.

This morning though, he was feeling a bit drained of energy, and he suspected it was the toxin taking its toll on his spirit, since it hadn't been cleansed recently. He sighed. Sometimes it just didn't pay to get out of bed.

At the door, the two both glanced back, making sure they had left nothing behind, as they both knew they'd never be back to Nighthaven. Not that Key would miss it. The place had grated on his nerves from the moment he'd arrived.

Both Horde quickly took the stairs and marched over to the Innkeeper's counter to pay for the rooms. Key grinned when he saw that the two Druids were also there, presumably doing the same thing.

Anaiya caught sight of the two Horde members coming in their direction and wrinkled her nose in dismay. She was half hoping they would change their minds about coming and would instead pick on some other poor travelers.

But then her conscious regrettably reminded her of the Paladin's condition and she sighed. As they drew nearer the two, Ver finished her business with the Innkeeper and turned around. Upon seeing the pair of Horde, she scowled and gestured to Anaiya, making to walk by the Blood Elf and Undead. Key raised a brow at Anaiya, who rolled her eyes and stood up.

"Aunt Ver? Um, wait for our….other party members please." She winced as she said this. Verfanas turned back around, obviously confused.

"Huh? Other party members? Who else is coming?"

Anaiya glanced at Key and Shana. Ver's eyes followed the movement, then widened and swung back to Anaiya. "Huh?" She said again.

Anaiya sighed. _'Why me'_.

"Don't you remember Aunt Ver. They offered to accompany us on our journey to Winterspring as extra guards. In return, we help out the Paladin, who was struck with an illness. I told you this last night, and you were fine with it, remember?"

Her aunt furrowed her brow, obviously trying to remember.

"They want to come with us?" Anaiya nodded affirmation.

"I said that was ok?" Another nod.

"And we're going to be helping them?" Hesitant nod.

Ver scratched her head, further entangling already tangled blue hair. Then she shrugged.

"Well if that's what I said, I won't go back on it. But they better not try anything or I'll make sure they regret it."

She gave the two Horde a firm threatening stare, which had a somewhat reduced effect considering she swore and rubbed at her head as she said the last bit. The pair of Horde exchanged glances, than nodded at the druid.

With a grunt, Ver turned back around, muttering about the dangers of drinking too much and agreeing to crazy pacts with the enemy. Anaiya nearly sagged with relief. Good thing her aunt was open to interaction between the two sides or that wouldn't have gone over so well. The Blood Elf sauntered over to her as she was distracted and patted her on the shoulder.

"See babe, wasn't that bad at all. What you need is a man to take care of you."

She gave him a black look.

"Stop calling me babe, my name is Anaiya! And get your hand off me. Don't think that because I agreed to this deal that I have any sort_ of _ideas about us. I just want all the information I can get on the trinket." She set off after her aunt, not wanting to be left behind. Key faked a wounded expression, than grinned.

"The tough ones are always the most exciting. I think I'm in love." Behind him, Shana sighed loudly, startling several night elves seated at nearby tables.

Outside the Inn, pale sunshine lit the beautiful and well tended path that led out of Nighthaven. During the daylight hours the thick overhang of trees obscured most of the sky, giving Moonglade a heavy surreal atmosphere, the feeling that it was always twilight, always shadowy.

Which of course was the design of the Night Elves, who as a whole, favored the shadowy shelter of the forests. Verfanas set a fast pace, quickly heading toward the small town's only true exit, where the path crossed a small stone bridge, and where Anaiya had met her first Tauren. Sure enough, there were two Tauren sentries standing on either side of the path, casually eyeing the small entourage as they approached.

Tawny colored tails swished lazily behind them as the large creatures focused on the party. Verfanas came to a halt directly in front of the Tauren, glancing behind her to make sure Anaiya was following. Anaiya then on reflex glanced over her own shoulder, making a face when she found that the Blood Elf and the Forsaken actually were following as well.

Somehow she always had this faint idea that the paladin had only been jesting about his proposition, as everything she'd ever heard about Blood Elves set them as self serving, uncaring, aloof elves who were held sway by their terrible magical addiction. And yet he had offered to share information, to accompany them and protect them along the way.

Although of course he did want medical aid in return for his services, but that seemed like such a small thing in return for the much needed information on the Nightmare and the circumstances surrounding the soul gem that held Eranikus captive.

When Key noticed that Anaiya had been staring at him for several minutes now, he raised his eyebrows in a suggestive manner and gave her a smirk. Anaiya scowled and abruptly turned back around. Ahead of her, Verfanas was waving her hands and speaking rapidly to the Tauren in a low voice, supposedly explaining their reasons for leaving. The two Tauren shrugged and nodded.

They glanced over the party members, giving surprised expressions at the two Horde, but wisely kept silent. It was not their right to interfere in Cenarion Circle business. Verfanas gave each Tauren a huge smile before walking between them on down the path. Anaiya, following her aunt's lead, slipped between the two bulls as well. Trying hard not to shrink down when their shadows well over her, she nevertheless felt greatly relieved to be past.

Her aunt paused once she reached the bottom of the hill, where the path veered off in a leisurely winding Northward direction. Anaiya rushed to catch up, feeling a thrum of excitement make its way down her spine as she stepped further and further away from Nighthaven, her only connection to Darnassus and her old life.

The thrill of adventure had firmly caught hold of her and she had to stifle the urge to continue skipping down the path toward the distant mountain range. In case of trouble, her aunt had shown her a map of their route to Winterspring so that Anaiya would be more familiar with the correct paths to take.

"You ready for this?" Her aunt asked with a grin, clearly knowing exactly how Anaiya was feeling right now.

Anaiya returned the infectious grin, feeling ready for anything. At that moment the two Horde members sidled up to the pair. There was a moment of awkward silence.

Shana opened her mouth as if to say something, frowned, and pointed down the road.

"Friends of yours?" She inquired.

Both Verfanas and Anaiya turned to glance behind them, where the Forsaken was pointing, and were greeted with the sight of three familiar faces. Hands on her hips, Verfanas watched the trio approach from the opposite direction of Nighthaven. It was none other than Meliri, Bessany, and Verfanas' rogue lover, Umber. Meliri shifted her feet somewhat hesitantly, glancing at Bessany before giving Verfanas a weak smile.

"Um, hi Ana. Hi Miss Verfanas ma'am." She spotted the Horde and quickly sent Anaiya a questioning look. Anaiya shrugged.

"Hi….Meliri wasn't it? And Bessany?" She folded hr arms. "And Umber? Just what exactly are you three doing here, pray tell?"

Bessany mumbled something and ducked her head, hiding behind her two large braids.

The human rogue chuckled and sauntered forward, putting his arms around Verfanas' waist and snuggling into her. "My dear we couldn't just let you wander off into the unknown wilds of Azeroth could we? We're coming with you to keep you safe and make sure your lovely figure stays all in one piece." He nipped at the older Druid's nose, eliciting a pleased gasp.

Then the druid came back to her senses and shoved the rogue away. He chuckled again as he stumbled backward, vanishing seconds afterward. Verfanas rolled her eyes.

"I don't need 'protecting', oh Umber dear. If anything you'd be the one getting in trouble and we'd be the ones risking our necks bailing you out." She said this to the air at large, staring ahead with a bored expression.

Anaiya felt like saying 'awwwww'. Her aunt and the rogue were so cute together. Best not mention that to her aunt though. She had the feeling her aunt was in denial about the type of feelings she had for the rogue. Verfanas then turned her attention on the two still visible. Meliri held up her hands to forestall any protests.

"Don't worry, I have no intention of going off to get myself killed for some strange crazy dragon."

Everyone raised eyebrows.

"Uh…I meant to say, I just wanted to come with Bessany so I could say good bye to you and wish you a safe journey. I know I'd be nothing but a burden and I need to finish my studies anyway. It's back to Darnassus with me." She then nudged Bessany.

The bovine girl stepped forward slightly and straightened up, standing to her full height.

"I know I'm young and fairly knew to my calling. I know that I do not have much in the way of experience and talent. But I would like to offer my services as a healer on your venture. I understand the risks, perhaps more than you realize, with this quest, and am fully prepared for it. I promise to not hinder you or slow down the party. I humbly ask for this chance to gain some experience and to help out a new friend."

She smiled tentatively at Anaiya as she said the last, and Anaiya felt warmed by Bessany's declaration. Verfanas was silent, gazing at the Tauren girl. Then she gave a careless shrug, shifting her polearm around to her other shoulder.

"Sure, why not. After all someone needs to keep an eye on the pansy and the zombie." The blood elf voiced an indignant protest. Bessany clapped her furred hands together and rushed forward. Naturally Anaiya eagerly hugged her most recent friend, quite happy to have someone nearer her own age along on the quest, although she was saddened that Mel had no inclination to join them. She reached out and hugged her night elf friend as well.

"Watch out for that Blood Elf, he has his eye on you." Mel whispered in her ear as they hugged. For some reason Anaiya couldn't explained, she felt her face heat up at the comment. Mostly because when Mel spoke, she could only think of the fact that he'd laid more than his eye on her earlier when he'd groped her. She still hadn't told anyone about that. With a final wave, Mel turned and made her way back up the path behind them toward the little bridge that led to Nighthaven.

Feeling a bit saddened, Anaiya gathered up her backpack and weapon, which she'd dropped upon recognizing the trio in the road.

Verfanas gave a look to each of them. "Since we're traveling together, how about we do a round of names just so that we all get a bit more familiar with each other. And I don't care how silly you think that is." She added the last part as the blood elf opened his mouth to protest.

She pointed to herself. "Verfanas. I'm leadin' this quest, so you follow my orders, especially when it concerns the health of the rest of you. Speak up if your having trouble or need help."

She fixed her eyes on Anaiya and Bessany as she said this, clearly more concerned with the young inexperienced Druids than the Paladin and Priestess. Key snorted.

Anaiya, not sure what to do, waved hesitantly. "I'm Anaiya. I'm her niece. I'm the carrier of the trinket that is the point of this whole journey. We're going to help free Eranikus and try our best to end the evil that is the Nightmare." She reflexibly patted the small woven pouch on her belt that housed the soul trinket as she spoke, reassureing herself as to its presense.

Verfanas gave her a proud smile. There was another awkward silence as the rest wondered who would speak next. Finally, the Forsaken raised a hand.

"Shana, I'm a Priestess of the Holy arts, I came here with him." She pointed at Key.

Bessany introduced herself next.

Finally everyone looked at Key.

He stared back blankly.

Shana nudged him.

He grunted.

She hissed at him, and he sighed and rolled his eyes, obviously feeling quite put out.

"Fine. This makes me feel like I'm part of some sort of creepy cult gathering. Name's Keyanomir, a Paladin. I'm only here for myself, cause the little lady and I made a deal so I can get back home faster." He sent a wink in Anaiya's direction. "Pretty name by the way babe, I like it."

Verfanas glanced between the two with narrowed eyes, obviously the Blood Elf fancied Anaiya, but did she feel the same? For Anaiya's sake, Verfanas hoped not. Anyway, with that settled, Verfanas felt they could finally get this crazy trek under way.

The sooner she got to Everlook the sooner they could ditch those two Horde leeches. she didn't trust them one bit. As she set off, every so often she caught a hint of something off in certain patterns of her surroundings, an itch of being watched by something not there. Knowing exactly what was up, she planned on ignoring Umber as long as possible to make known her displeasure with him.

The strange party consisting of both Alliance and Horde made their way steadily down the small earthen path that led away from Nighthaven. The further away they became from the village, the more wild looking the path became.

After they had been on the dusty path for approximately half an hour to one hour, Anaiya noticed a small side path that veered off to the right. As Verfanas didn't pause or hesitate in her face paced walking, Anaiya knew that the side path was not the main route through the mountains.

Still, she was curious. As she drew abreast of the side path, she peered down its length as best she could, despite the undergrowth and brush that threatened to obstruct her view. A distance down the path she thought she caught a glimpse of several winged creatures resting calmly, with a Night Elf in the leathers of a Gryphon Master standing nearby.

_'That must be one of those waypoint masters, the chain of flying gryphon's that I'd heard about from one of my texts on magical creatures. I remember something about the King hiring certain individuals to man posts in all habitable areas of the world so that adventurers and travelers could quickly move from city to city.'_ She wondered if one day she'd get to ride one of the great winged beasts. They always looked so beautiful and proud in the textbooks.

Soon enough their group fell under the shadow of the looming mountain range, the large protruding masses seeming almost to touch the top of the sky with their mass. Leaning her head way back, Anaiya squinted up at the tips, seeing that some were almost white near the very top. Thoughtfully she studied the mountains, having never gotten a close glimpse of any.

"Beautiful huh?" Beside her, Verfanas' voice was hushed, as if affected by the awe and majesty of the mountains. Before Anaiya could formulate a reply, the Paladin walked up and said "Yes, she sure is", then grinned impishly at Anaiya, who glared back in irritation.

He was just doing it to annoy her, she told herself, shifting a few paces away from him. The Forsaken priestess nudged Key in passing and shook her head at him in a disapproving way. This just made him chuckle.

"They are remarkable, it makes you wonder what sights those mountains have seen. What events they have witnessed." Bessany's quiet voice sent shivers down Anaiya's spine for some reason that she couldn't explain.

"Still," the Tauren continued, "They do not compare to the towering outcroppings that my home of Thunder Bluff rest on." She smiled softly, a wistful light in her eyes. Anaiya patted the bovine girl on the shoulder in understanding. Bessany nodded back gratefully.

"Alright," Verfanas said in a firm voice, and the others instinctively moved closer to her flamboyant form. Her green hued robes billowed in a stray gust of wind, than settled sedately about her ankles.

"We will go single file through the pass. I'll lead, and Umber can be last. I know the denizens of these tunnels so they will pose no threat to us unless we do something to provoke them first. So behave while in their home, show the utmost respect. We are only allowed to travel through this pass at the Firbolg's discretion."

As she mentioned her rogue lover's name, the air rippled to the left of her, and the human in question suddenly became visible, standing in a crouched position. Verfanas didn't even bat an eye at this sudden appearance, although Anaiya was sure all of the rest of them were just as startled as she was upon seeing the Rogue, who they had assumed had stayed behind.

Also, Anaiya was curious as to what a "Firbolg' was. Searching her mind, she couldn't come up with the picture, or description of anything that resembled that name. _'Oh well, I guess I'll find out won't I?_' She thought with a mental shrug.

Verfanas then glanced around at the surrounding wilderness, one last check to make sure there wasn't anything threatening nearby, although she trusted Umber's judgment on his scouting, and he hadn't brought anything to her attention.

She gestured to the group to follow, and set off down the path once more, this time with the others quietly following in single file just like she had said. Anaiya was second, having quickly scrambled after her aunt. Bessany, who was standing beside Anaiya, became third in line.

Key maneuvered himself ahead of Shana, wanting to be as close to the Druids as possible. Shana just sighed in irritation, mumbling something about chivalry, and followed along behind the insufferable Blood Elf. Lastly, as Verfanas had suggested, Umber took up the end of the party, keeping his eye on both the party members ahead and the trail behind, constantly shifting to eye the nearby shadows as well.

Paranoia was a rogue's middle name after all.

One by one they climbed the slight incline that wound around a large stump of a tree, up into a small crevice that was cleverly hidden in the shadows of the mountain it was carved into. Anaiya did not even notice the opening until Verfanas disappeared into it, and with her heart pounding, the young druid had surged ahead, thinking something had befallen her aunt.

She exclaimed in surprise when she came upon the crevice, and daintily slipped between the slabs of rock. The sides were coated with a glistening moist type of moss or fungus that she could not identify, but that gave off a soft green glow that was oddly comforting in the almost darkness of the tunnel. The crevice itself was tiny. Anaiya had to stoop to not hit her head, but once inside, her mouth fell open as she glanced around.

The "tunnel" itself was wide, almost wide enough to walk three abreast, and the walls were so smooth she could barely make out the imperfections that dotted the rock, indications that the tunnel had been created by something other than nature. Inside the tunnel, the glowing green moss coated the walls and ceiling.

The roof of the tunnel was a good head taller than Anaiya, although despite this, she reflexively kept her shoulders hunched for fear of hitting her head. Small formations of oddly shaped rock protruded from the ceiling in random patterns, and small beads of moisture dripped from these spikes.

Glancing behind her, she caught Bessany's anxious glance, and reached back to blindly squeeze the Tauren's furred hand in comfort. The poor Horde druid must be so far out of her element, Anaiya realized. The Tauren's hand was trembling slightly in Anaiya's grip. Anaiya was feeling edgy herself despite her curiosity at finding this underground passage.

She was still wondering what a Firbolg was. And their footsteps were giving off eerie echoes that kept making her startle. Longing for the forest suddenly overcame her, and she had to swallow down the urge to scramble back the way she'd come for the exit, and fresh air. Fighting claustrophobia, she pressed forward after her aunt, who had slowed to a calm walk.

Since the floor was uneven and slick from the moisture falling from above, Anaiya kept her eyes on her feet as she walked, fearing a fall would crack her skull. When the last echoes of footfalls had stopped bouncing off the walls, Anaiya knew that all of them were now inside the passageway. For some many minutes the group traversed the tunnel in silence, only the striking of booted feet; or in the case of Bessany, hooves; striking stone as noise.

The further into the Firbolg tunnels they walked, the more Anaiya began to feel the walls pressing in on her. She had always prided herself on being able to stay calm in most situations, but the silence, the small enclosed dark tunnel, was making her feel trapped.

She knew it was her imagination, but she couldn't help but feel as if the tunnel was becoming smaller and smaller, and soon she found herself hunching her shoulders and ducking her head, as if fearing that the ceiling would suddenly loom down and press upon her.

She had no idea how the dwarves of Ironforge dealt with this, as she'd read their entire home was under a giant mountain. Deep in her own worries, she didn't notice the dip in the tunnel in time, and stumbled over the uneven footing.

With a gasp, she held out her hands, blindly looking for something to brace her fall. With a sudden jerk, though, she was pulled back onto her feet, and after assuring herself that she was alright, she turned around, seeing the Paladin standing behind her, fel green eyes glowing eerily in the dim lighting of the tunnel.

Her eyes followed his arm down to where he clutched her backpack, and she realized that he had pulled her back before she could fall completely. All this happened in the space of mere seconds. Up ahead, Verfanas halted.

"Are you okay Ana? What happened?" The older druid eyed the Paladin suspiciously, and Key dropped his arm with a dramatic sigh.

"Such thanks for saving the lovely damsel's life." He said with a flourish of his hand.

"Ya I'm fine Aunt Ver. I almost tripped over the uneven ground and the Paladin…err Keyanomir is his name? He grabbed me before I fell." Anaiya responded to her aunt's quiery, giving the Blood Elf an exasperated look for his continued smitten behavior. Verfanas raised a considerable eyebrow at this, glancing between the two.

"Thank you by the way, I'm grateful that you didn't let me fall." Anaiya said this to the blood elf behind her, who sketched a dramatic bow which looked quite comical in a dark tunnel. Anaiya resisted the urge to snicker at him.

Facing forward again, she raised her voice to be heard over the whispers that had started up behind her, "Aunt Ver? Are we almost out yet? I hate to sound whiny but this tunnel is getting a bit …"

She fished around for the right word, not knowing how best to voice her fears. Verfanas patted Anaiya's arm knowingly.

"I know, it can be a bit wearying. That is why I always choose to fly when I need to visit either Everlook or Nighthaven. We're almost to the Firbolg Hold, that is at the center of the tunnels. Then just a short side tunnel to get through, and we'll be in Winterspring!"

She said this last loud enough for the benefit of the rest, and there was a collective exhalation of relief throughout the tunnel. Verfanas chuckled at that. She hiked her polearm into a more comfortable position and set off again, her Night Elven vision lending her a bit of an advantage in the almost black tunnel.

The green lichen covering the walls grew dimmer until it was nearly non existent, making Anaiya increasingly nervous and jumpy. Then suddenly the tunnel opened up into a broad cavern, well lit with bright yellow torches mounted in brackets at even intervals.

Everyone crowded around the entrance to this cavern, blinking in startled amazement at the abrupt return of almost normal lightning. Anaiya glanced around, mouth open. When she was told they were going to come to the Firbolg Hold, she wasn't sure what to expect, but this certainly wasn't it. The cavern was fairly enormous, with hollowed logs and small bridges crisscrossing the giant room on all levels.

The torches blazed merrily, with only the merest flicker from tunnel drafts. With squinted eyes, she could also make out shadowed alcoves here and there, that led to some mysterious destination. The air was comfortably warm, much more relaxing than the chilly damp temperature of the tunnel. And amongst all this bustled…creatures, the like of which Anaiya had never seen before.

The best she could describe them as was a cross between a bear and a wolverine, that walked on two legs and was apparently sentient, to all intents and purposes. The "Firbolgs" as she assumed they were, carried many different things as they went about their tasks. Some had simply made bows and quivers, others carried crude maces and cudgels. In one corner, a small crooked circle of sticks had been erected, and inside the circle smaller versions of the Firbolg creatures played and tumbled.

Upon the entry of the party, most activity in the Hold froze as each creature focused its eyes on the group, sizing them up, assessing the threat. Under their collective gazes Anaiya shifted a little closer to her aunt.

"Are you sure about this? They don't look very friendly." She whispered anxiously from behind Ver's polearm. Verfanas nodded casually.

"Yep, don't worry they like me. I rescued a few of their young ones one time and they've always been grateful about that. Or at least I think they have, it's hard to tell when they don't really speak the best Common. Come on, just keep calm."

She glanced behind her at everyone, made a 'come on' gesture, and started forward. The nearest Firbolg, a large white furred creature, stepped forward boldly, nose quivering as it made a sniffing motion in their direction. Anaiya couldn't contain her gasp. The creature paused it sniffed in Ver's direction, then its face broke into a snaggletooth grin and it bobbed its large ursine head up and down.

It shuffled backwards, running sort of awkwardly with long arms swinging. After it had made some grunts, whistles, simple words, and gestures at some of the other Firbolgs, they were all bobbing their heads in Ver's direction.

"They value their young above all else, their species is very small in population." Verfanas remarked over her shoulder.

Everyone in the group automatically settled back into the familiar single file routine, and let Verfanas lead the way since she'd been here before. She stepped up to a hollowed out half of a log that had been laid across the path, and then turned right and went up a slight incline and turned again.

By this point, Anaiya was thoroughly hoping for the dark tunnels again. She didn't like the Firbolg creatures; something about their bestial expressions and behavior was making her nervous. Verfanas moved in another direction once on the upper level, and around her lithe body Anaiya could see the opening of another tunnel ahead.

Within a few minutes they had entered the dark tunnel, and Anaiya visibly relaxed now that multiple eyes weren't boring into her back. Verfanas gave one glance back to make sure everyone was following. Anaiya glanced back as well, and saw the same relieved tension reflected in Bessany's eyes when her gaze landed on the Tauren. Anaiya smiled at her.

Soon the party had settled back into the relative normalcy of traveling through the darkened tunnels. The path here was a bit more worn and uneven, and Anaiya was having to concentrate more on her footing than on the view ahead. The lichen covering the walls was also thinner. As the hours ticked by, Anaiya became aware that it was becoming noticeably colder.

Eventually, she found herself rubbing her arms and shivering slightly. When they came upon a small niche in the tunnel wall, where a small indent had been carved out, Verfanas stopped.

"Ok we're almost to Winterspring, as I'm sure you can tell by the chill in the air. We've been traveling for quite a while now, and while I know you all are becoming quite antsy in this tunnel, I think a short rest would do us good. Ten minutes tops to catch out breath, re-hydrate, that sort of thing. When we leave, put on warmer clothing and keep your weapons away from bare skin. Its going to get much colder and I'm not dealing with any frostbitten fools."

Anaiya crouched down on her heels, carefully setting her oaken staff beside her, relieved to have a moment to rest. Truth be told, she wasn't in shape for long treks without rest. Although she was hoping that with time her body would become conditioned and it wouldn't affect her as much.

At Verfanas' bidding, she reached into her pack and brought out her heavier clothing, a soft woolen cape edged in white wolf fur with a matching white fur hood, along with fur-trimmed gloves. Moments after donning the new clothes she felt much warmer and happier.

Her shivering disappeared and her muscles warmed up, giving her new strength to continue. She sighed in contentment. Looking around at the others, she noticed Bessany had pulled on a short cloak made of some odd type of hair, along with simply made gloves to fit her unique hands. Other than that, she did not change her attire, and Anaiya realized that her warm thick body fur must keep her well insulated in colder climes.

She grinned, how useful! Shana, the forsaken, was leaning against the tunnel wall with folded arms, golden orbs staring unblinkingly into the darkness. She made not a move to don warmer clothes, and the possible reason behind that sent a shiver of a different sort down Anaiya's spine.

Try as she might, she didn't think she would be able to get used to some things. The paladin was standing by Shana, absently rubbing his side. Anaiya frowned. He did look a bit paler than before, not well at all.

A pang of sympathy wormed its way through her before she stepped on it. He was a member of the Horde and did not deserve any compassion. Not to mention his forward behavior with her. She hoped he was alright.

Verfanas pulled up the hood of her own vivid green cloak with its unique mint green pattern. Her aunt's robes and cloak always made Anaiya a little envious each time she saw them, they were so beautiful. It was obvious that Verfanas wore them with pride.

Her human lover Umber was eyeing her with an admiring gaze that gave Anaiya the impression that he'd like to do more than just eye her if the others weren't there. All too quickly, Verfanas stood, picking up her polearm, which she had placed against the wall before crouching down herself (Of course, the weapon had unceremoniously clattered to the ground moments after being set against the wall, earning a suspicious scowl from the Paladin).

The older druid stretched languidly, then shook herself, somewhat like a giant cat after a nap. She gave a glance around to the rest of her ragtag party of Alliance and Horde, and shook her head in bemusement. What would the righteous and uptight citizens of Stormwind make of this little company. Probably hang the lot of them for treason. She grinned at the thought.

The rest of them stood reluctantly, eager to be out of the tunnels and the constant darkness, but also reluctant to continue walking. As they all set out again, Anaiya was dismayed to find that the Blood Elf had switched positions in the party and now stood directly behind her. She sighed. Would he just get over her already? Although she was sure he'd run after the next pretty head he could find. Ugh, men.

Echoes of booted feet on stone bounced all around the party as they moved on. And indeed it did become colder the further they went. Soon Anaiya's breath frosted in the air in front of her. She was supremely glad that Verfanas had bought her new warm armor.

Eventually she noticed that the walls no longer held the greenish glowing lichen, but were instead covered with a shining smooth sheet of ice, clear and glistening, as clear and thin as glass. Verfanas warned her not to touch it or her fingers would fuse to the ice. Carefully keeping her hands at her side, she craned her neck, eagerly looking for some sign that they were nearing the tunnel exit.

Then, just as abruptly as they had entered Timbermaw Hold, they were out of the tunnel. Bright white light assaulted Anaiya's eyes from all sides, so blinding that she reeled backward, rapidly blinking.

After a few moments her eyes adjusted to the whiteness, although she still saw orange spots when she blinked. What she beheld ahead of her was a wide expanse of blinding white mountains and wintergreen trees, everything coated with a heavy blanket of white. Anaiya had never seen so much snow. It went on for as far as her eyes could see.

At their feet lay a narrow, and little used path that had been forged into the otherwise unbroken white.

"Kalimdor, such a fantastic continent with a wide array of climates." Key's remark was so heavily laden with sarcasm that it made Anaiya give an involuntary chuckle.

She turned to her aunt, standing nearby, to ask where they had to go now to find the Spirit Speaker, but paused when she noticed Ver's odd stance. Her aunt was crouched, leaning slightly forward, with a wary tense look. Behind her aunt, Umber also was glancing around warily with hands on his twin daggers. Anaiya felt a cold thrill of dread creep down her neck.

"Aunt Ver? What's wrong?" Her voice didn't mean to come out so quivery, but she was more nervous than she thought. Her aunt frowned, lips pursed, eyeing the nearby brush and trees.

"Something doesn't feel right. I sense danger, a threat." She muttered the words without glancing away from the surrounding wilderness.

Anaiya instantly scanned the area as well, but her inexperienced eye noticed only gently rolling hills of white and snow laden trees. No wait, that tree branch moved! She squinted her eyes, and noticed that a small patch of the nearest evergreen tree was a different green than the rest.

This patch was a light, almost spectral green, translucent with a sort of odd gleam.

Anaiya gasped and meant to point this out to her aunt, but at that moment, all hell broke loose. The trees that had been quiet and still suddenly burst into a flurry of flying snow and large spectral green beasts. Anaiya shrank back against the rocky mountain they had just emerged from.

From behind her she heard a low snarl, and whirled around so fast she fell in the heavy snow, landing on her back. Staring down at her from a jagged outcropping of stone that protruded above the tunnel exit was a large spectral green lynx. Anaiya gasped in alarm.

The green beasts that had burst out of trees, which Anaiya realized with a dazed sense of dread, were owls, gave unearthly keening shrieks and descended upon the party with a vengeance. From above her, the lynx crouched, tail lashing, into a pouncing position, its emerald eyes fixed on her.


	12. Ch 12: What Happens In the Forest

A/N: Well here we are again, Chapter 12. And OMG, I can't believe its gotten this far along already! I'm so proud of my little story, I've grown to enjoy it quite a bit as I write it. I can picture everything in my head as it plays out, like a movie. :) I hope all of you are enjoying reading this as well. I would love for comments/reviews/helpful suggestions, anything! Reading your lovely reviews helps me to get up inspiration to write further! Makes me feel happy to get up in the morning before work and read a new comment that had been given the nite before. Well anyway, long time between updates sadly. You can blame my lack of skill in writing fight scenes, and my indecision on how to let certain events play out. Turns out, the chapter pretty much wrote itself, as what happens with most of what I write, strangely enough. Does that happen to anyone else? Or am I just weird? Lol. And if you've taken a peek at my profile lately you'll see that I've mentioned that I'm currently working on another project ( I know shame on me!) that will be a sort of prequel spin off to this one. You can blame this on a Hunter friend of mine who proudly showed off his newly tamed pet and sparked a chain reaction in my mind...But more on that later. Read onward!

* * *

Chapter 12: What happens In the Forest, Stays In the Forest

**Previously in Beyond the Four Winds:**

"Aunt Ver? What's wrong?" Her voice didn't mean to come out so quivery, but she was more nervous than she thought. Her aunt frowned, lips pursed, eyeing the nearby brush and trees.

"Something doesn't feel right. I sense danger, a threat." She muttered the words without glancing away from the surrounding wilderness. Anaiya instantly scanned the area as well, but her inexperienced eye noticed only gently rolling hills of white and snow laden trees. No wait, that tree branch moved!

She squinted her eyes, and noticed that a small patch of the nearest evergreen tree was a different green than the rest. This patch was a light, almost spectral green, translucent with a sort of odd gleam. Anaiya gasped and meant to point this out to her aunt, but at that moment, all hell broke loose. The trees that had been quiet and still suddenly burst into a flurry of flying snow and large spectral green beasts.

Anaiya shrank back against the rocky mountain they had just emerged from. From behind her she heard a low snarl, and whirled around so fast she fell in the heavy snow, landing on her back. Staring down at her from a jagged outcropping of stone that protruded above the tunnel exit was a large spectral green lynx. Anaiya gasped in alarm.

The green beasts that had burst out of trees, which Anaiya realized with a dazed sense of dread, were owls, gave unearthly keening shrieks and descended upon the party with a vengeance. From above her, the lynx crouched, tail lashing, into a pouncing position, its emerald eyes fixed on her.

* * *

**Now:**

"Damn it!" Anaiya spared a glance to the side, not wanting to risk more than that when in the eyes of the predator crouched before. To her dismay she saw Key go deathly pale and clutch at his side before falling into the snow nearby.

Behind her she could hear sounds of battle and assumed that her aunt had attacked the descending birds. Wide-eyed, Shana quickly grabbed Bessany by the hand and scurried over to the Paladin's side. Which left Anaiya alone, facing the emerald feline.

Now that her attention was back on the predator, she took notice of angry streaks of darker green that swirled through the lighter green fur. The darker streaks looked like a sickness or a malignant rash that flickered and undulated along the lynx's body. She also noted the rippling muscles as it tensed, and gulped in fright. But by the Nether she would fight the beast with everything she had, till the very end if she had to.

She had no idea why the creatures were attacking them unprovoked, unless it had something to do with their quest. The vivid green coloring of the creatures also confirmed this suspicion, and she was only sad that the Nightmare had seemingly twisted these once proud and beautiful beasts to its evil design.

Very carefully and with subtle movements, Anaiya shrugged her backpack off her shoulders and let it fall softly to the snow behind her, never taking her eyes off the lynx. It's swirling green eyes followed the backpack's movement, obviously aware of her every move with its sensitive eyesight.

Swallowing down her fear and panic, knowing everyone else was preoccupied and wouldn't be able to help her in time, Anaiya gripped her oaken staff, slowly pulling it crosswise in front of her body like she had been told to do in training, protecting her vulnerable front while making her a tougher target to attack, and also bringing the formidable weapon into a more manageable position.

There are only so many positions one can hold a staff and use it effectively. Of course, having never left Teldrassil, she was wholly unprepared for a real fight with a creature that intended her serious harm. Her palms felt clammy, sweaty and cold at the same time, and she had to fight the absurd urge to take off her gloves and wipe her hands on her breeches.

Without a warning, in the space of an eye blink, the large cat was on her, driving all 40-50 pounds of solid killing machine straight at her.

With no warning, Anaiya could only brace herself for the impact and at the last moment pivoted her right foot slightly behind her so she would have better balance to steady herself. As it was, the great cat's weight sent her to the ground on her back, with it sitting on top of her.

It wasted no time, going for her face with one large clawed paw. Startling a scream out of her by reflex, the cat barely missed clawing her face off. Instead it rent grooves in her staff, which she then used to push the cat back off her chest, using the leverage of the long weapon and bracing her weight against the ground. She pushed upward and then jerking her arms sideways, along with the staff, shoving the cat unceremoniously into the snowdrift beside her.

Breathing heavily and shakily, she quickly scrambled backwards, falling in the snow and trying desperately to put distance between herself and the cat. A mangled owl thudded to the ground at her feet, sending up a small puff of snow dust.

The air had quickly become infused with the scent of death and blood, and slightly steaming bodies of owls now littered the small clearing in front of the Firbolg pass. Although Ver and Umber quickly dispatched their foes with ease and efficiency that suggested great skill and stamina, more owls appeared in the sky, almost blocking out the light.

The beating of wings almost drowned out the angry snarls and yips that the shifted druid was making, or the slight clang and hiss of Umber's poisoned daggers. The scene was so surreal and overwhelming that Anaiya could not hold back a sob of sheer frustration.

The lynx, ever quick on its feet as befitting its species, was now circling her, hate filled eyes fixed firmly on its target.

"Why! Why are you doing this! I just want to help that dragon! This has nothing to do with the Nightmare or who controls it!"

Her scream of rage had no effect on the feline, ears pinned to skull and mouth open slightly, displaying two long fangs and a jagged row of shorter, equally sharp teeth. Anaiya knew that the last time the lynx lunged at her, she had been extremely lucky, but this time it was more prepared and it now knew that the stick she carried was a weapon.

She didn't like the way it eyes the staff with a considering look not at all at home on its feline features. That look suggested at intelligence, cunning. She heard a cry of pain behind her, but didn't dare take her eyes off the cat, and just hoped everyone was okay.

The lynx paused in its pacing, bunching muscles. Anaiya braced herself again, desperately trying to think of a spell, anything, that would help keep the cat off of her until someone could come to her rescue.

Right at that moment in time she felt as useless as a newborn elfling, and vowed to herself that if she survived this, she would seek training from her aunt Ver to be a better and stronger druid in combat. A spell came to her scrambled mind at the exact moment that the cat leaped at her. She quickly flung out one hand, the other still firmly holding the staff across her front to protect her.

Leafy tangling vines briefly snaked around the lynx's paws as it lunged, pulling it back down to the snow, before the vines promptly broke, unfortunately lasting mere moments. Anaiya whimpered in frustration.

Now furious, the cat snarled, lips drawing back in a hiss. Having accomplished the goal of keeping the lynx from pouncing on her, Anaiya moved backwards a few steps again, and almost tripped over the body of an owl.

She quickly glanced down as she stumbled, and the cat was on her within an eye blink, scoring deep scratches across her chest that instantly stung. The cat's claws ripped through her leather armor like paper.

She gasped at the sudden sharp pain, instantly casting a simple arcane spell she'd mastered a few months ago; moonfire. The beam of purplish light hit the cat between the eyes, dazing it for a few precious moments.

At that moment, Anaiya became aware of another awareness inside of her, something almost like another being inside her mind. It was such an odd sensation that it gave her pause as she mentally examined this strange occurrence.

The mental 'room' that she sensed this awareness in gave off the impression of warm fur and soft paws. Anaiya was quite confused by this, having never had this feeling before. It was like an itch, an urge to do something, but she didn't know what it was she was doing, or how to do it.

The presence that had made itself known seemed to reassure her and send her calming waves, asking for permission for something. At that moment the cat recovered from its moonfire barrage and sank its teeth into Anaiya's lower arm, right above the wrist.

The pain was immense and startled Anaiya so badly that she 'pushed' her mind into that room just to escape the pain and fear. Suddenly she found herself in a different and altogether most unusual position. Glancing at the lynx, which was now giving her a look of menacing bemusement, she found that her eyesight was level with the cat's.

Her staff lay discarded beside her, and glancing at it brought to her attention the fact that she now had fur, four legs, and a tail. Alarmed by this, the yelped, which sounded more like a tiny meow.

"By Elune's light, I shape shifted!" Anaiya exclaimed.

Of course what came out of her mouth was a series of meows and hisses. The presence she had felt right before her remarkable transformation, which she now understood was the feline aspect of her inner nature, enveloped her mind in the instinct of a panther, and she surrendered herself to that calming influence, knowing the feline's instinctive nature had far more grace and agility without her own elfin influence hindering it.

Without thinking, she lashed out with her front paws, dealing a hefty swipe at the lynx. The other cat darted backward, but not before Anaiya ripped a chunk of flesh off its muzzle. The lynx gave her an appraising look, reassessing the threat, before slinking back slightly.

It now bore a wary, unsure expression, having been sure of an easy victory against an untrained, inexperienced elf maiden. Anaiya was still a bit dazed herself from her sudden transformation, and her mind was almost overwhelmed by the sensory input she was getting from her new form's superior senses.

Part of her mind was analyzing the threat in front of her, while aware of the continued battle behind, the cold of the snow, a far off song bird, and the occasional thud of snow settling further up the mountain.

The other part of her mind was thoroughly shocked by this new development, was stressed over her friend's endangerment, was worried about her aunt, and was most of all, fearful about the consequences of shape shifting accidentally without any knowledge of how to regain her true form. She hoped that when the battle was over her aunt would be able to help her find her way back to her true form again.

Suddenly the cat winked out of existence, and Anaiya gasped, cat eyes glancing around. Where did it go? Nervously she began to shift around, scanning the area. To her relief she noticed that her aunt and Umber had nearly killed all the owls, only a few stragglers left to contend with. From where she was she couldn't make out if they had sustained any injuries but she didn't think so from their movements.

This made her realized that while she was distracted with the lynx and her own first shapeshift, the lynx had cut her off from the rest of her comrades and had driven her slightly off to the side away from the main path.

That she hadn't even noticed this until now said much for her state of mind. Anaiya tried working her way through the snow to get nearer the rest of her party but the lynx, anticipating such a move, darted in front of her with a vicious snarl and a quick paw swipe.

Anaiya gasped and jumped back slightly to avoid being hit by the cat's large claws. Her own confusion and clumsiness in this new form was beginning to overcome the cat form's own instincts and she felt herself slowing.

She was quickly tiring of this cat and mouse game the lynx had going with her. With a determined roar of her own, she pounced at the lynx, but misjudged the distance. She landed a foot short of the lynx, when she had meant to land on the creature's back.

The other cat hissed and closed in, using claws and fangs to do whatever it could to finish Anaiya off. She managed to rake her front claws down the shoulder of the green cat, which unfortunately made it crazed with pain and frustration at not being able to kill her.

It turned, impossibly quickly, and within moments had Anaiya's shifted form pinned to the ground, paws pushing down on her chest as she was crushed relentlessly into the trodden snow. She tried everything she could to wriggle out of the other feline's grip, but the cat's claws were digging deep into her fur and the icy cold snow was beginning to make her back and paws turn numb with frostbite.

Staring up into the vacant, maddened eyes of the green cat, Anaiya felt a forlorn sense of lost hope, of lost dreams, as she faced her imminent death.

She'd tried her hardest but it didn't seem to be enough. She had such expectations on this quest, such dreams of becoming renowned for the youngest druid to complete such a dangerous and risky venture.

She wanted to make her mother proud of her choice to become a Druid, to show all the elders of Darnassus that she actually was worth something, that she had helped free a trapped dragon! Had seen places that many of them had never even heard of.

It wasn't supposed to end like this, in some desolate and random snow-clad forest far from home. Would anyone miss her? Would anyone even notice she had gone?

As the green feline's glinting cold eyes gazed down at her from its victory perch, Anaiya felt herself slump back, going limp with resignation. The feline snarled, and lowered its great furred head, presumably going for the throat for a killing bite, mouth opened eagerly.

Then suddenly the cat wasn't there. Anaiya blinked in shock for a few moments, unable to comprehend how she wasn't somehow dying of a torn open throat. It occurred to her quite suddenly that there was no weight on top of her.

Quickly she jumped back to all four paws, crouching defensively with belly to the ground to make herself as small a target as possible. She had no idea why the cat had just suddenly left off attacking her. She gasped.

Right in front of her she watched with amazement as the Paladin slammed his shield into the green lynx's face, stunning the feral cat and knocking back several paces. Snow flew in a powdery flurry as the cat lashed out angrily in a blind reflexive fashion, as if dazed and unsure of its bearings.

With awe, Anaiya watched open mouthed as Key, who had apparently appeared at the last moment and saved her life, rushed forward toward the lynx, laying at it with his large bejeweled sword.

The cat, which was fairly large, coming just below the Paladin's waist, made a valiant effort at winning back the upper hand, but unlike Anaiya, Key was no inexperienced naive little elf maiden and it showed in his attacks.

He skillfully dodged every lunge, swipe, rake or snapping of fangs that the cat used. Having been already slightly wounded and tired from its fight with Anaiya, the cat was leery of engaging this new foe head on, and used its feline speed and agility to dodge almost all of Key's sword strokes, diving under his sword whenever possible for an attempt to injure him in any way.

Unfortunately for the lynx, claws did very little damage to full plate armor, and again and again the cat was driven back to its previous position. Anaiya watched this grim dance with an open mouth, having never seen anyone fight before other than her aunt's play fighting with Umber. Speaking of her aunt! Anaiya swiftly swung her head in the direction she'd last seen her aunt, low slung furry ears twitching forward as well.

She had yet to master the art of using her eyes and ears independent of each other while in this new form. With the strange new eyesight of the feline shape she'd assumed, she watched her aunt and Umber finish off the last of the frenzied owls.

Her aunt, still in cat form herself, appeared to be panting from exhaustion and favoring a front paw. Umber was bending down near here, inspecting the paw. Relieved that they seemed to have survived the fight at least, Anaiya shook her head in a pleased fashion.

Of its own volition, her long snake like tail started dancing back and forth behind her, which served to distract her for a few seconds before she was able to override the feline urge and again turned her eyes to look for Bessany and Shana.

She found both of them huddled by the exit of the Firbolg tunnel. Shana was wrapping some linen around Bessany's left arm, where Anaiya noticed the sleeve was torn and somewhat bloodied.

'_They must not want to waste their magical reserve in case of more serious injuries,_' Anaiya thought while watching the two.

The lynx roared, a snarling scream of frustrated rage, and Anaiya focused back on the cat. Apparently vexed that it was being kept from its target; namely Anaiya, the feline was trying its utmost to dispatch the paladin as quickly as possible.

But key, being a fighter of some skill, and able to take heavy hits due to his plate armor and large shield, was keeping the large cat at bay, warding off its claws and fangs with apparent ease that made Anaiya envious.

The cat leaped upon Key's shield, perhaps feeling that would help bring the battle into its favor. Indeed, Key was startled by the cat's leap, and dropped his shield when the full weight of the feline settled on the large disc in his off hand.

The lynx gave a growl of delight, and proceeded to attack Key in close. He began to have a harder time keeping the lynx at bay without his shield, and gained a few deep lacerations for his efforts. Anaiya slunk up behind the cat while it was distracted and raised her paws.

Her sharp panther claws withdrew from their sheaths, and following the guidance of her feline instincts, turned her paws at just such an angle that she was able to rake the back and haunches of the lynx, shredding the end of its tail for good measure.

The lynx screamed in pain and fury, spinning around surprisingly quick and backhanding Anaiya across the muzzle with a powerful paw swipe that she didn't even see coming. She fell back, dizzy and in pain.

Seeing the distraction as a great opening, Key lunged forward, sword leading, and cleaved the lynx almost in two while its attention was diverted by Anaiya's helpless form once again. As the now dead cat, clouding eyes staring unblinkingly up at the druid, fell to the snow, Anaiya let out a loud rush of air.

So relieved was she that it was over that she felt too weak to stand. Or maybe that was her wounds? That last swipe she'd been dealt was making thinking hard. She shook her head, but instantly regretted it when the trees swam around her.

Shutting her eyes also didn't help, just magnified the feeling of vertigo and the throbbing pain in various parts of her body. And she was beginning to feel the effects of the cold on her paws and the tip of her ears. Shadow loomed across her face, and she flinched back before recognizing the paladin. He hunkered down in front of her and patted her on the head, then felt several wounds along her side.

"Anaiya? That is you right? Are you ok darlin'? You can change back now. I'm impressed, I had the impression you were too young and inexperienced to know how to shapeshift yet." The pretty blood elf grinned at her, pride and desire clear in his eyes.

Anaiya would have scowled had she the facial muscles to do so. As it was, she rolled her golden kitty eyes at him. Shoving her questing nose at the paladin, she sniffed him over herself, making sure he wasn't unduly injured by coming to her rescue.

Make no mistake, she was incredibly grateful that he'd come to her aid, but darn it, that just made her feel more useless and ineffective. She couldn't even defend herself against a wild animal. Albeit a large wild animal. A large, cunning wild animal.

Thinking that made her feel better. After all this was the first time she'd participated in a fight. She padded back through the uneven, dirtied snow back to the others, who were now grouped up around the Tauren and Forsaken priestess.

A soft golden light seemed to shimmer gently around Shana as she waved her hands in a familiar, unhesitant manner. Her hands, glowing the same warm gold color, moved to cover a deep bleeding gash in Umber's forehead. Her hand covered the wound, where she rested it there for a moment. When she removed her hand, the wound was mostly gone, nothing but a slightly reddened line remained.

The blood of course, was still there. Verfanas leaned over and gave her human lover an affectionate hug, relief at his good health evident on her features.

Verfanas herself, now fully back in her original, Night Elven form, was relatively unscathed, having been skilled in paw fighting as a panther, and was able to keep most of the winged fiends away from her unprotected body.

Key passed Anaiya's furred form and walked over to Shana. The priestess gave him a concerned look, feeling his forehead and muttering some words. Her hands then glowed the same telltale gold and she covered each of his wounds. Immediately he perked up, giving Shana a grateful nod in return.

Finished with their own troubles, everyone's eyes naturally swiveled to settle on Anaiya, who sat in the snow, tail twitching back and forth seemingly of its own accord. For some unnerving reason, Anaiya found her tail to be of great fascination, and felt that she could watch it dart to and fro for hours. Best not mention that sort of thing in polite conversation.

"Anaiya?" Her aunt questioned, bringing Anaiya's bright yellow eyes up to stare at the older druid. Verfanas cocked her head, then sighed.

"This was an accident wasn't it? Your shape shifting."

Anaiya tried nodding her head, but only came up with a swaying, bobbing movement that she hoped conveyed what she'd meant. It was becoming somewhat harder to control this new body now that she wasn't relying completely on the cat's sense of self preservation to guide her.

Now the cat part of her mind, that feline drive, was slumbering at the back of her mind, and she was becoming a bit worried. Her aunt sighed again.

"Well, I can't say as I'm surprised. After all, my first shift was an accident as well." She chuckled at some memory. "I can tell you, I didn't take it as calmly as you are, that's for sure."

She walked over and settled herself down in front of Anaiya's bewhiskered face.

"Okay, first thing. Take a deep breath and relax. Being a cat is a natural and wondrous thing for a druid. Its what we were born to do. it's a calling in our blood. Understand?"

Anaiya settled down, drawing inward to release as much of her tension as she could. Slowly, ever so slowly, she felt her muscles slacken and relax. It made her feel different, more sleek and agile, more confident in her fur.

Apparently this was translated in her body language, at least for Ver to read, as the other druid grinned and nodded.

"That's right, just relax, keep your mind at ease, free of any worries. You're safe now. Now comes the hard part, which is actually getting yourself to believe that you _can_ shapeshift, _can_ change from one form to another. Its easy enough the first time, especially if by accident, because of that magical, inner voice that urges you on."

"But to go from cat to elf again, that requires mostly you, you and your inner determination to be yourself again. Some druids never come back from their first shift, forever frozen in the bodies of cats or bears or birds. But I know you Anaiya. You're brave, determined, gentle and compassionate. I know you have the strength of will to find yourself again."

As she was saying this, in a soft soothing voice, Anaiya was feeling a sense of strangeness in her very being. A twitch, or a twinge, deep in her very psyche, as if there was something there, something that was growing bigger and stronger by the moment.

As her inner self analyzed this, she realized that it was her humanity, her Elven form, that had grown in her mind's eye as her aunt spoke to her. The image solidified, became more real, and loomed before her inner eye.

Feeling as if this was the right thing to do, she felt her inner self, not surprisingly shaped like a feline, make a dash for the humanoid part of her soul. Both shapes collided, and suddenly Anaiya fell over.

Opening her eyes fully, she felt bereft, exposed, vulnerable. It took a few moments for her to realize why. She was herself again! She reached up and happily pulled strands of thick, familiar green hair in front of her eyes for confirmation.

She grinned and jumped to her feet, wavering slightly at the change in balance and height before ingrained years of walking this way caught up to her and she steadied herself.

"See, I knew you could do it. Now, don't go shifting again until I can give you some lessons on how to do it properly, and how to behave and fight while in that form. But now is not the time." Her aunt impishly hugged her, eyes full of emotion.

Anaiya hissed when her aunt hugged her, bringing back the whole reason she'd shape shifted to begin with. Her injuries, various scratches and claw marks, stung in the harsh winter atmosphere.

She was only glad that somehow, through some magical law, she had retained all her clothing upon shifting back. She had had a brief fear before shifting that she'd end up naked as the day she was born, and just the _idea _of appearing naked before them all was making her face heat up. Bessany hesitantly approached her, and made a quiet motion toward her more obvious injury, claw marks on her shoulder.

Understanding that the shy Tauren was offering to Heal her, Anaiya gratefully nodded.

She wasn't trained in any healing arts, having focused most of her studies on how to be better at Feral Combat. She was impressed and pleased when the Tauren finished and she felt no more pain in that area but for a small twinge.

Eventually, with time, even that would heal. The Tauren then took to healing the various other injuries covering her body. Once she was finished, the time passed in silence, Bessany stepped back and stood awkwardly next to Shana.

"So…I think we're all in accord with the idea that we put some distance between us and this…mishap, huh?" Verfanas' words interrupted the somewhat stale silence, and everyone eagerly nodded.

Anaiya, most of all. She was still coming to grips with the idea that she had almost died, but for the timely intervention of the Paladin. Which reminded her…she owed him a thank you darn it. How humiliating. Here she'd been avoiding any contact that she could with the Blood Elf, knowing that he fancied her.

As Verfanas and Umber set about inspecting the dead owls and the lynx, trying to see if they could find anything worth salvaging off the beasts, Anaiya breathed out a sigh and mustered up her straining pride. She walked over to the paladin, who had his arms crossed, watching her. As he saw her walking toward him, he smirked.

Although she did notice that he looked somewhat more ill than before, and made a mental note to see if Bessany could perform another Cleanse on him when they reached the nearest town.

"I would like to thank you…" Trailing off as she wondered how to address him, Anaiya frowned. 'Sir Sunblade' sounded too formal for a party member, and honestly she didn't see the idea of giving him more of an ego boost than needed. 'Mister Sunblade' sounded just downright silly. Calling him by his first name sounded too personal and intimate.

She mentally shrugged. "I'd like to thank you for what you did, saving my life. I appreciate it, it wasn't something you had to do. I'm glad that you've apparently recovered from whatever happened before."

She inclined her head in polite gratitude, with the intention of then walking over to talk to her aunt about her experience as a shape shifted cat. Key held out a hand and laid it on her arm as she turned, causing her to freeze in place at the unexpected touch.

She gave him questioning, somewhat uneasy eyes. In her life in Darnassus, she was ashamed to admit that she hadn't had much involvement with the male half of her kind, so was a bit edgy and nervous around them.

"It was my pleasure darlin'. I am sincere in my words when I say that it would be a great shame on the world if you were to pass from it. Your beautiful light gives warmth to the dark places. I would truly like nothing more than to get to know you better." He gave her somber, desire-filled eyes.

Anaiya immediately felt her face heat up. '_omigosh, did he really just say that to me? Me of all people. What do I say back? Ohhh this is so awkward.' _

Her moment of indecision was thankfully long enough for the Forsaken priestess to become curious about their quiet exchange and wander over. Now Shana slapped Key on the arm and gave him a yellow eyed glare.

"Come on lovebird, leave the poor girl alone. Can't you see you've shocked her speechless with your pretty little twittering. And when I say shocked speechless, I don't mean in a good way. Lets go or the rest will leave without us fool."

Her harsh words, although uttered in exasperated amusement, served to clear Anaiya's mind, and to her dismay she noticed that Verfanas and Umber were indeed now setting off down the narrow trail that led away from the mountainous pass they had come through.

Now that she could think of what lay ahead, Anaiya was more cautious and serious than before, wanting to know why they had been attacked, and if they should expect another such unprovoked attack anytime soon.

She was sure those crazed animals had something to do with her trinket, she was sure of it. Thinking of the trinket reminded her of its presence, and she moved her hands down to her hip, where the filigreed pouch rested secure, tied to her thick leather belt. She was sure she imagined feeling a throbbing, almost like a heartbeat, start under her fingers as she rested them on the pouch.

But after a few moments, it passed, and she didn't think of it again for some time.


	13. Ch 13: Look, Its Everlook!

A/N: Woohoo, here it is! Review if you like it, please! Your reviews make me that much more eager to write more! Thank you to everyone to has faithfully followed so far. No I do not own Blizzard, and any and all names that are NOT main characters are borrowed quite politely from the game of World of Warcraft. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 13: Look, It's Everlook!

Key's admiration of the sheer magnitude of the forest they found themselves immersed in wore off very quickly. For one thing, a tree was a tree.

Once he got over the fact that everything was completely white and silent, and the concept of there being this much snow, the vast and unending crowd of trees became rather monotonous, and he took to whistling a tune he'd picked up from one of the Paladin trainers in Silvermoon City.

Thinking on that reminded him of his duty in the Ghostlands, and made him feel a pang of nostalgia for a more familiar setting. Another thing that was wearing his patience thin was this blasted cold. It was so Sunwell-cursed cold on this freakin' continent!

So far, for the duration of his visit here, he hadn't been impressed much with the climate. Mountains and trees were just about all he'd cast eyes on, and he was more than ever longing for his small, but roomy apartment in uptown Silvermoon.

He sighed. A snow laden tree branch nearby gave in to the inevitable strain and dumped a load of thick cold snow in a near silent pile at his feet. Arching an eyebrow, Key then took to eying any far reaching branches, on the off chance that he happened to be passing under on when it felt like unloading.

Not far ahead of him, and struggling in the deep snow, Anaiya's fur wrapped form huddled in on itself. Key felt a small kernel of sympathy and some absurd moment of pride for her determination to continue on with this.

He thought for sure she'd lose it after that battle, having stared death in the face. There weren't many who'd faced that and still wanted a life of adventure and journeying. Apparently the little beauty was tougher than he'd originally thought.

He amused himself with watching her behind as she walked, but it soon grew boring when the view afforded only thick fur wrapping. Behind him, Shana sighed for about the tenth time, and Key frowned. He was really rather amazed with her tenacity about wanting to see him safe. She apparently took her duty as the party healer quite seriously.

_'Note to self, don't get on a healer's bad side'. _

Walking for such long distances was not Key's most favorite of pastimes. He preferred to be spending his time cruising down the lanes of Silvermoon on his resplendent war charger, a highly trained and intelligent mount proudly sporting the red colors of Key's occupation.

He'd give anything to have his horse right about now. His mind came up with all sorts of things to amuse him as he whiled away the hours walking down some Gods forsaken path in some random forest with the strangest party members he'd yet allied with. If his cousin could see him now.

Key smirked at the thought. Eventually the small group came upon a crossroads, to coin the term loosely. An old crooked sign, laden with fresh fallen snow, indicated that Everlook, the town of their destination, lay ahead on the right path.

Verfanas, their 'illustrious leader', glanced down the other path, eyes alight with curiosity, before sighing and continuing on down the broader path that led to Everlook. As they all passed the side trail, everyone's eyes inevitably lingered, squinting off into the distance, where the side trail disappeared over a slight rise. Anaiya shivered, pulling her cloak tighter about her frame as she hurried ahead of Key.

Not long after leaving the small, quite crossroads, Verfanas called for a break, and they all gratefully set down their things and rubbed aching joints. Breath fogged in the air as they rested. The Tauren, whom Key couldn't quite decide what to make of, scooped up a glove full of snow, and worked it around in her hands for a few brief moments. Key watched her, head cocked, wondering what she was up to.

Giving sideways, shifty glances, Bessany than reached up, and launched the newly formed ball of snow at her new friend Anaiya. The lightly compacted ball of snow hit the green haired Night Elf in the back. Immediately she whirled in alarm, staff raised.

She glanced around in confusion, noticed Key's grin despite his obvious attempts to be interested in some rabbit tracks, and narrowed her eyes.

When she glanced downward she noticed the remnants of the snowball. Giving a last warning glance toward Key, she turned back around. Bessany giggled quietly. Key gave her a look of annoyance. Great, now the elf thought he was immature _and_ a lecher.

So much for him getting something out of this bloody nightmare trip. As he watched, rolling his eyes, the Tauren once again set about forming a snowball out of the readily available piles around her. Once formed, she snorted amusement, blowing warm air out of her muzzle.

With casual ease, she launched the snowball at Anaiya again. This time it bounced off her shoulder and broke apart, crumbling down the front of her fur-lined armor. Abruptly, the Night Elf stood up, and spun around.

Her eyes, of course, landed on Key first, who frowned at her and glanced away, showing that he had lost interest in this little drama. Bessany giggled. Anaiya glanced at her, than back to Key.

But Bessany's giggles grew louder, and Anaiya's curiosity made her focus her attention on the Tauren, who she noticed with some surprise was forming another ball as she watched. Anaiya gave a mock outraged gasp, which made the Tauren gleefully work faster with a sly grin.

Sitting on a wind fallen tree on the opposite side, Ver and Umber glanced at each other, before quickly glancing away.

Each grinned to each other, then abruptly stood up.

Umber instantly vanished from sight, and Verfanas was obscured from view by a flurry of green nature magic, reappearing as the now familiar form of a deep blue-black panther. Then she too vanished from sight, with a playful cat smile decorating her feline features.

Key blinked rapidly, having felt that he'd taken leave of senses…or maybe it was everyone else who had gone mad and he was the only sane one left. Depressing thought, that.

"Here, now, lets be serious here, we do need to get to Everlook remember? As much as I enjoy your company, I really need to get back to-"

Key's complaint was cut off as he was hit by an errant snowball.

He sighed, crossed his arms, and moved his convenient backpack-turned-stool further away from Anaiya and Bessany, who had apparently declared all out war on each other and were lobbing snowballs like warriors on a battlefield.

Peals of evil laughter rang in his ears every time one managed to score a hit. That, and the prickling sensation that told him there was an invisible couple nearby doing who knows what made him feel very put out.

Even Shana was hard pressed to avoid smiling at the party's antics. Key rolled his eyes. If this was how the Alliance relieved battle stress, he was concerned for their continuing survival. After what seemed a ridiculously long time for a snowball war, Anaiya and Bessany collapsed onto their respective castles of snow, feeling flushed and somewhat more relaxed after what had happened with the Nightmare creatures earlier.

Key wasn't exactly sure who had 'won' their little sparring match, was pretty sure they didn't know themselves, but he was slightly mollified by the fact that Anaiya even gave him a contented grin. Having finally settled down, the two young Druids finally seemed to notice that two of their party were missing.

Anaiya glanced around quickly.

"Aunt Ver? Where'd they go?" She asked no one in particular.

Key coughed something into his armored hand, and when Anaiya gave him an odd look, he shrugged innocently, eyes wandering their temporary resting location in a 'who knows?' gesture.

Although he had an inkling of what the older druid and her unconventional companion were up to. After about ten to fifteen more minutes or so of awkward silence broken now and then by murmured conversation, Verfanas flashed into view, crouched on the road in elven form.

Key and everyone else glanced in her direction reflexively upon hearing the slight sound her now corporeal body made in the snow. Key folded his arms, giving the wayward druid a look. Verfanas, upon finding everyone's focus on her person, flushed and then scowled.

"Well? What are you all waiting around for? We need to make haste to Everlook, its getting quite dark here!"

That said, she snaked out a gloved hand, made a grabbing motion, and yanked toward her. From out of the air tumbled the human rogue, clothes rumpled and askew. Key exchanged glances with Shana, then sighed.

Alliance, it was a wonder they managed to win any battles or actually do anything productive what with their…unusual habits. Verfanas glared at the rogue, as if accusing him of something horrible, whereupon he attempted to look innocent and coy at the same time.

The druid's irritation with her companion wore off after the first fifteen minutes of traveling, and to Key's dismay, she now bore an expression akin to a cat that had eaten all the cream. Anaiya, clearly bewildered at her aunt's strange mood, kept giving the other druid, the rogue, and the paladin wary, suspicious glances.

Shana said not a word to anyone, gathering her things and trudging along behind Key as usual. Bessany shrugged at her friend and set off in line herself. They continued on in their travels that way, with the occasional rest and to eat.

This time the breaks weren't nearly as eventful as the first one was. Over the several days that passed before they reached Everlook, Ver took it upon herself to try teaching her young relative the ways of a Feral Druid.

They talked animatedly about the various advantages to becoming a furred and four legged predator, and the disadvantages as well. Sadly, Anaiya could not reproduce what she had managed to do by accident in battle, and had been quite sulky over her lack of success at shifting. Ver assured her that this was natural for a beginner, and had instead taught her other Druidic skills.

Finally, one clear and cold morning, Ver announced that they would reach Everlook today. Everyone was relieved by that. Anaiya was becoming quite aggravated with wading through all the snow. Around midday they stopped for a meal.

Key attempted to flirt with Bessany, who grew so flustered that she mooed at him, then was so embarrassed by that that she refused to speak to anyone for hours afterward. Shana glared at him. In the lead, Verfanas stopped at a slight corner that the path took around a thicket of snow laden trees. She grinned and beckoned to the rest of the party, giving Anaiya a particularly excited look.

"Come here Ana." She said. Curious, Anaiya walked up to her.

Upon rounding the next tree lined bend in the path, Anaiya couldn't help but gawk at the sight that fell before her. For she'd never quite seen anything that resembled the short, walled fortress of what she assumed had to be Everlook.

The small city? Village? (she wasn't sure what to call it) lay sprawled ahead of the small party with its walled back to the looming white mountain range behind it. Its walls were very thick, but not very high, only about a couple heads taller than herself. Carved into the side of the wall that was facing them was a wide, arched entrance, that the path led straight through.

The walled fortress was so strikingly different from anything she'd yet seen! Verfanas grinned knowingly, then walked forward toward the place. As they neared the fortress, the path became more easy to tread, and Anaiya did not have to watch her feet as often, which was a good thing because she was too busy taking in all the sights. Outside the fortress was a long solid wood post with a thin cloth tied overhead.

There were all manner of strange creatures strung along this post, each one more unusual than the last. There was a violet colored saber with large fangs, clearly an elvin mount, and next to it rested a large, wooly creature that she assumed was a ram; the favored mounts of dwarves, with long curving horns that looked quite menacing.

On the other side of the ram paced an agitated two-legged creature, the coloring a bright, outlandish green and completely covered in glittering scales. This creature was also decorated in exotic looking armor, adorned with feathers and beads and a strange headdress.

And so on down the line. Some creatures she could recognize but a few were completely foreign to her, such as the two-legged reptile creature. Standing idly near the mounts, chewing on a long blade of grass, was a short dark green man with a long nose and scruffy black hair.

He gave Verfanas and the rest of the party a hard glance as they passed, but then seemed to dismiss them as nothing he needed worry about, and went back to watching the line of mounts.

Another man, in similar garb, also chewing on grass, stood on the other side of the long post, also watching the mounts and the heavily trod path leading up to the entrance.

The snorting, stamping, fidgeting, and braying of the mounts was almost deafening as Anaiya passed them, and she flinched back suddenly as the saber lowered its head and gave an almighty stretch.

She bumped into Key, who was right behind her, and flashed her a knowing smirk, then winked. Anaiya scowled back.

"Don't worry babe, I'll protect you." He said, grinning.

"Don't call me that." Anaiya replied automatically, already turning to glance around as they entered Everlook.

On either side of her stretched low, domed buildings, all glistening whitely in the low laying sun. This made her realize with some amazement that the buildings were all built from snow!

She was curious as to what made the snow keep its shape and not melt into a puddle in the heat of day. Was it magic? Some trade secret? Before she could muster up the courage to ask the Blood Elf, Verfanas suddenly turned off the main path and veered toward a trio of snow buildings.

Her aunt seemed to have a set destination in mind, and was determinedly making her way through the milling men and women that made up the inside of the fortress. Here there were three small green-skinned men talking animatedly, and over there was a pair of female green-skinned beings giggling and whispering.

She spotted, and recognized a gnome giving what looked to be a lecture to a crestfallen human, both wearing overlarge red goggles, with the human looking blackened as if he'd been breathed on by a dragon.

She didn't spare the couple more than a passing curious thought, as there were so many other new things to catch her eye. The fortress itself wasn't overlarge by any means, quite small in fact, but it seemed more crowded than Darnassus.

All the small green-skinned men and women gave off the air of being incredibly important and busy, bustling to and fro and taking up more space than one would think.

"Goblins." Came Key's voice from behind her. Anaiya frowned at him.

"The little green midgets. Goblins. Strange little critters are they not? Only thing you have to know about 'em is that they love money. The more money they can make, the happier they are. Remember that. And they also love technology, although not as much as your average Gnome."

Anaiya glanced around again. Goblin. It was a familiar phrase, one she'd heard every now and then from passersby in Darnassus. Ahead of her, Verfanas had stopped outside a particularly large and long white building.

Just outside of the building stood a bored looking young goblin who introduced himself as Azzleby and it would please him to board any pets they may have. Since none in the party were hunters and therefore had no need of a place to situate their pet while visiting, they declined to chat.

Azzleby shrugged and went back to looking bored. Anaiya was beginning to wonder if that was the norm of Goblins. Verfanas quickly ducked inside the building and the others all filed in after her, fanning out around her robed form once inside.

The room was indeed low, no doubt due to most of the patrons being half the group's height. Bessany in particular was having a hard time with the low ceiling. On the left side of the room were three rows of tables, each the length of the room with stone benches on either side.

Seated at the tables was a mottled assortment of men and women from different races, both Alliance and Horde. Key leaned down and whispered to Anaiya

"Here in Everlook, associating with fellows outside your faction is quite common. Being run by Goblins, who by nature love money, it is a neutral waypoint and they welcome anyone and any kind of interactions as long as you don't cause trouble."

His warm breath tickled her ear and she irritably jerked her hand up, swatting him away. He chuckled, clearly enjoying agitating her. Shana gave him a disapproving look, which he ignored.

"I didn't ask for your commentary, Paladin." Anaiya shot at him, although she was mulling over what he'd said about the Horde and Alliance being more open and friendly toward each other.

As she watched a dwarf glare at the troll seated nearest him, then nudge over a bit in the opposite direction, she thought maybe 'friendly' was too strong of a description.

A few patrons glanced up at the newcomers, wearing mixed expressions of wariness, suspicion, and curiosity, before focusing back on their own business. Verfanas glanced around, spotted a relatively empty corner of the Inn, and headed for it, where a few round stone tables had been set up for private dining.

The older druid confidently seated herself with her back to the wall, so she could survey the rest of the room, and the rest of the party arrayed themselves around the table. To her dismay, Anaiya found herself seated next to the Paladin, who grinned at her, although somewhat wanly.

Again she mentally reminded herself to make sure that someone gave him a proper cleansing later.

"Okay, I think it would be best if we rested here at Everlook for the remainder of the night," Verfanas began, immediately cutting to the chase.

"As much as I wouldn't trust a Goblin as far as I could throw him, it appears that it would safer within the town's walls then to venture out, especially after what happened earlier. We'll rest up tonight, get a proper hot meal, and set out early tomorrow. Agreed?" She asked this as a question, but her expression dared anyone to protest.

Key, who personally didn't care what they did as long as he got his cleansing before he left this accursed continent, just shrugged nonchalantly.

The rest nodded, some enthusiastically, some reluctantly. Anaiya desired more than anything right that moment to have a hot soak and a good sized meal, but at the same time she had this itch in her mind, this urgency to continue forward, to do all she could to do to help that dragon.

She had a feeling deep inside that something terrible was going to happen soon, some grand, cataclysmic event, and she felt that somehow, that dragon, and by some small insignificant extension, herself, were going to play a part in it. She wasn't sure if she should feel proud or terrified of this. Verfanas nodded with satisfaction.

"Good. You all hang here, I'll go get us some beds and a meal. I'll be right back."

With that she stood up and sauntered over to the Innkeeper, who, unsurprisingly, was a Goblin.

The Innkeeper apparently haggled over the price, but eventually nodded, albeit grudgingly, and money exchanged hands. Verfanas turned and pointed to the table where the rest waited, then nodded once to something the Innkeeper asked, before making her way back to the table.

Halfway there, a serving Goblin accidentally bumped into her while wending her way between tables, which in turn made Ver bump into an Orc who had been drowning himself in strong mead.

The alcoholic beverage spilled all down the Orc's front, and with a roar, the drunk stood up, alarming several nearby Alliance. Orcs were, after all, legendary for their bloodlust when angered. Ver backed off a step, holding up her hands loosely, and apologized.

The Orc shoved her backward, and in a flash Umber had a dagger to his throat, held so closely to the skin that if the Orc swallowed he'd be in trouble.

"Do tell the lovely elf your sorry for your rude and uncouth behavior or you'll be wearing a pretty red necklace."

The rogue's voice was low and deadly serious, the sound sending shivers down Anaiya's spine as she watched the spectacle.

She didn't know if she should do anything to intervene, even if she knew what would be a good thing to do in that situation. More and more patrons, noticing the disturbance, stopped to stare, all wondering how it was going to end.

Silently in the back, three Goblins made bets on the outcome.

"Here now, what's all the fiddle about then?"

The voice, piping and shrill, intruded on the silence that had surrounded the trio of troublemakers.

Ver straightened up and shook her head slightly at her lover.

Umber stiffened his arm that held the dagger, as if warning his victim that he could do it at any time and the Orc couldn't stop it, before vanishing from behind the towering green man to appear in a flash next to Ver. She rolled her eyes at him.

Tensions eased somewhat, all still wondering what the Orc's reaction would be. Finally, the Orc scoffed, making blustering noises, before turning back to his drink, which had been swiftly refilled by a serving maid during the drama.

In moments the Inn was back to the way it was. Turning around and glancing downward, Ver grinned.

"Why, the odds of seeing you here Laris. I'd ask what your up to, but I'm not sure I want to know." Voice tinged with amusement, Verfanas watched the small Gnome briskly dust off his clothing, before peering up at the much taller elf.

Laris Quickswitch, who had teamed up with the Druid at one point in the mutual past, cheerily waved.

"Greetings, Verfanas Cloudchaser! I am merely enjoying the wonderful clear winter air while engaging my fellows on this side of the continent in witty conversation."

The Gnome grinned, eyes sparkling, before sobering.

"Truthfully, I'm hiding from Jemma, She has it in for me, I know it! That woman is as tenacious as a hyena with a bone. She's probably still scouring all of Tanaris for me right now." He chuckled at some memory. The druid nodded.

"Anyway, thanks for breaking the ice back there, so to speak. I was ready to let it go, but some of us are a bit more hot tempered than others." Here she slanted a disapproving look at her human companion.

"And honestly, if you don't want to marry Jemma, just tell her that, don't run all over Azeroth trying to hide from her. A man can never hide from a woman if she wants to find him badly enough."

She giggled.

Umber raised an eyebrow.

She gave him an innocent look.

Together, the three made their back to the corner table. Bessany made room next to Verfanas for the tiny Gnome. Seeing the tiny creature sandwiched between the Tauren and the Night Elf made Key snigger loudly.

Anaiya sighed grandly at him, which caused him to snigger more. Introductions were passed around, and soon Ver, Umber and Laris were deep in conversation about the polarities of energy along ley lines and the flux of power potential in Mage offspring…or so they mentioned.

Anaiya had not a clue what any of that meant, and from her two companion's expressions, neither did they. But the small Mage, clearly warmed to his favorite subject, didn't seem to mind, and rattled on about Arcane nodes of energy, weaves in the dimensions, and intra-web teleporting.

Just thinking about it made Anaiya's head spin.

Their meals arrived, hot and steaming. Thankfully the contents of the soup that consisted of the main dish didn't look that questionable, and after some prodding to see what floated to the top, Anaiya shrugged and ate.

She found she was very hungry, and happily had another bowl after she finished. Key slowly consumed his soup, not even finishing the entire thing before pushing it away. He was beginning to look quite ill.

Knowing that Ver was the strongest druid among them, Anaiya waited for a break in the discussion with the Gnome to talk.

"Aunt Ver? Could we, or rather, you, possibly um…" She trailed off, glancing at the Paladin, who had given her a sharp glance.

It dawned on her that he probably didn't want his weakness known to the Gnome, Anaiya made a come-hither motion with her hand to her aunt, who had stopped talking when Anaiya spoke.

Seated across the table from her niece, Ver cocked her head to the side, probably wondering what Anaiya wanted but was unwilling to voice. With a shrug she excused herself, secretly relieved to be away from her Gnome friend's babble for a moment.

She walked around the table and leaned down so Anaiya could talk to her in a low voice.

"Oh, I see!" Ver exclaimed, rather loudly, after Anaiya voiced her concern over the Paladin's deteriorating condition. Both the Druid and the Paladin gave her sharp looks.

The older Druid gave the Blood Elf the once over with a critical eye, then nodded.

"I agree, he's definitely brimming with deadly toxins right now. I can feel the heat of the poison from here." Anaiya's eyebrows went up with concern and she bit her lip.

"Okay, its been a long, and somewhat…stressful day. I'm going to see my niece to her rooms since she needs her sleep."

Ver raised her voice to be heard by the entire table. Anaiya felt somewhat annoyed that her aunt's excuse was that Anaiya still needed to be put to bed like a youngling.

She was old enough to be out on her own for Elune's sake! But she knew it was so that they had an excuse to go upstairs in privacy, so stifled her protests, nodding instead and making a show of looking tired.

With some amusement she realized that it wasn't all for show. She did indeed feel exhausted, and her muscles ached. Now that she'd had a hot meal, sleep was creeping up on her like a relentless panther. She waved farewell to everyone, and received a chorus of 'good night!'s' in return.

Key silently followed her and Ver to the stairwell that led upstairs. The rest sat in companionable silence for a few moments, before the Gnome decided that would be a good time to bring up his woman troubles, turning to Bessany and asking for her advice, since 'Hey, you're a girl right?'.

The noise gradually fell away as they climbed, and was barely discernable once they'd reached the upper floors of the odd, domed building. The structure was so glaringly different from night elf artistry that Anaiya felt a pang of homesickness.

Ver lead the way into one of the tiny, boxlike rooms. This one housed two cots, crammed side by side, with enough room for a wash stand, a rug bearing an engineering symbol, and little else. Anaiya sat down on one cot, immediately crossing her legs and leaning back against the wall.

Key sat down on the other, then awkwardly rubbed his hands together.

"Thanks babe, for putting it like that. I didn't want the Gnome to know of my…little problem." He offered Anaiya a grateful smile. Anaiya almost smiled back, then rolled her eyes.

"Don't call me that." She shot back.

Verfanas crouched down in front of the Paladin, letting herself sit at eye level with him.

"Take off your armor so I can see the affected area." Ver said softly.

To her mortification, Anaiya felt her face heat up at that comment, and she hastily focused on the rug, aggressively scrutinizing the pattern in the weaving. Key noticed her face tingeing slightly pinkish and forced himself to suppress a satisfied smirk.

_'Aha! I knew she had a thing for me_!'

Now he just had to find a way to get her in the- His thoughts were broken by the icy hot touch of Druid magic that entered his body and proceeded to attack the foreign toxins that were destroying him.

He gasped. The feeling was tingly, not quite pain, but on the verge. He gritted his teeth against he feeling. The strange tingly agony seemed to go on for an eternity, before finally the green mist faded from around his form, and Ver stood up back up.

The Druid swayed slightly, and rubbed her brow.

"That is a very strong poison." She said gravely, looking on the Paladin.

"You need to find the cure for it as soon as you can, it is spreading very quickly. But for now, I've fought it back. Although it drained me completely to do so. A few more hours and you'd have dropped dead."

Anaiya's mouth fell open in shock and she abandoned all pretense of studying the rug, instead giving Key a concerned, fearful look.

_'She cared enough to be afraid for him?_'

Key thought with some amazement. He'd never had a girl actually care about his well being before.

It was a strange sensation. He gruffly thanked Verfanas, donning his armor again quickly. He nodded at the older druid, winked at the younger, and walked out the door. Only to walk back in a few seconds later, asking for directions to his room.

Apparently Ver and Anaiya would be sharing a room, and Key, Shana, and Bessany would be sharing the other. Where Umber was sleeping, Verfanas didn't mention. After receiving instructions and leaving the room, Key pondered the feeling that had arose in him after Anaiya's reaction.

He couldn't quite describe it, even to himself. It was something like affection for the young naive elf, but that wasn't quite the best description. He gave up pondering it, feeling deeply tired.

After tumbling into bed (to his utmost relief, they had been given a room with enough beds for everyone to sleep separately), Key feel immediately asleep, and slept soundly with the exception of a brief dream of giant green dragonflies trying to braid his hair with their tiny clawed feet, while somewhere in the distance he could hear Anaiya's giggles.

* * *

"So, is there something going on between you two that I should know about?" Ver inquired after the Paladin had left the room for the final time. She had waited a few minutes to be sure he wasn't going to come back again, before turning on her niece, hands on hips. Anaiya, startled out of her thoughts, quickly balked at her Aunt's accusations.

"No! Don't be silly Aunt Ver. He's Horde, and arrogant and full of himself to boot. You know that you and mom have always warned me about tangling with guys who were that self-absorbed. And again, Horde, hello? Enemy to Alliance on the worst of days, unfriendly tolerance on the best."

Her aunt gave her a shrewd, searching glance. Anaiya quickly glanced down, then back up.

"Don't worry Aunt Ver, its nothing. Besides, he'll be leaving tomorrow anyway, remember? He's not sticking around longer that he has to."

Still, her aunt felt that _something _had to be going on, for all the odd looks and comments the two gave each other the entire trip.

Normally she didn't mind Horde/Alliance interaction, and even approved of some of the daring couples who openly consorted with members of the opposite faction, but right now, with the situation they were all in, and with it being her relative, an inexperienced young girl at that, she was feeling a bit overly protective.

Finally, she left Anaiya alone, promising to be up shortly after seeing her Gnome friend off. Anaiya, knowing her aunt like she did, didn't think it likely that 'soon' would be happening anytime soon.

She waved her aunt off and busied herself getting ready for rest. Just recently, her aunt had shown her how to access the Emerald Dream while sleeping, and to use it to harness her 'inner kitty' as Ver called it, and she was eager to enter the Dream again and practice her shape shifting.

She had, as yet, been unsuccessful at shifting since that battle with the Nightmare creatures, but hadn't given up hope on being to do so on command. She carefully took the trinket out of its pouch, where it pulsed oddly, gleaming a brilliant green in the small room.

After setting it down on the small nightstand, along with her belt and various pouches, she slipped into nightclothes and lay down. It was a testament to her exhaustion that she feel asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

She did not in fact, enter the Dream that night, at least to her recollection, having lacked the focus due to exhaustion to project herself onto plane of existence. A dream she did have, however, one that she quickly forgot upon waking in the morning.

In this dream, a tall exotic looking and completely unfamiliar man with long green hair was chained between two metal posts. He kept screaming something at her dream self, but she couldn't hear anything he was saying over what seemed to be endless streams of chanting in a foreign language.

The one's doing the chanting were nowhere to be seen however, and searching for them revealed that she was now trapped inside a giant hexagonal shaped green box, which loomed above her, and had a green ceiling that she could see through. Soon, the unusual dream faded from her unconscious mind, and she drifted into dreamless sleep.


	14. Ch 14: The Plot Thickens

A/N: Look an update! By Elune, it is so! So anyway, I don't own Blizzard, or WoW, or any affiliation connected to them. Of course not...if I did, Thrall would marry Jaina, I'd marry Illidan AND Kael, and um...Druids would have a serpent form. Ya that would be cool Well anyway, hope you enjoy this one my loyal veiwers. Just for your patience, dedication, and wonderful, awe inspriting reviews, I've made this chapter extra long for you! I hope you like it, and please review, it makes me so happy to know that at least someone thinks my story is worth reading :). To be honest, I'm still kind of amazed at the reviews I have been getting. Everyone seems to like it so far. Read away.

* * *

Chapter 14: The Plot Thickens *dramatic music*

The morning dawned clear and bright. The sun was a weak, yellow ball far on the Eastern horizon, shining down with cold light that gave no warmth but illuminated the surrounding snowy countryside with brilliant rays of light.

The day was still early enough that Anaiya felt no need for a breakfast meal, wanting to wait till it was later in the day since she, like most of her race, was not a morning person.

She found, to her astonishment, that Keyanomir was willing to travel with the group to visit with the Spiritspeaker, and was quite pleased with this turn of events secretly.

Although, it was probably to see if this Spiritspeaker had any insight on helping him be rid of his ailment. As she waited outside the Inn for Ver and Umber to finish getting their things together and gather up a fresh load of supplies for the trip, she pondered on how far she'd come.

It seemed like it was only a short time ago that she was a nervous, silly little novice priestess who was afraid to tell her mother that her path lay on a different route. Now, she had successfully cast her first shapeshift, she'd experienced an actual battle, (against animals to be sure, but a fight was a fight) and had gained some unusual but steadfast friends along the way.

Pondering on that last thought, though, had her admitting that the only one of their party that she'd really call a friend was Bessany, as the two were always finding themselves together. Shana, she really knew nothing about, and the Forsaken kept herself aloof from the rest of the group anyway.

Key she could hardly call a friend, the cocky male. And her aunt was…well, her aunt.

Umber sort of alarmed her, especially after last night. She still couldn't believe that she'd had the bravery and courage to do what she had done, standing up to the Druid Elders, requesting to aid in this quest. She was going to rescue a dragon, for Elune's sake!

No one she knew of back in Darnassus could say they had done anything even half as epic as she had. A thrill went through her at the thought of telling all her friends back at the Enclave about her journeys.

Which reminded her of Meliri. She felt a small pang of nostalgia thinking of her friend, and knew that Mel would be in the middle of a lesson right now, probably learning proper technique for one spell or another. Oh well, too late to turn back now, and regrets would get her nowhere.

"Hey beautiful babe, nice weather hm?"

Anaiya wrinkled her nose at the voice. Turning around, she saw Key standing behind her, looking quite better than he had last night, slouching against the Inn wall like he owned it, long blonde hair catching glints of sunlight like spun gold. Anaiya scowled.

"Don't call me that. I have a name paladin, use it." Her retort only made him smirk.

"Yes? I do as well little elfling. I wouldn't mind you calling me by mine either…or anything else that comes to mind in the heat of the moment, if you know what I mean?"

Anaiya stared at him, mouth hanging open, not sure if he was insinuating something or if he was just reprimanding her for her oversight.

He winked.

Before Anaiya could make the snide remark that she was bursting to throw at him, Shana walked through the door, followed by Bessany. The Forsaken actually hissed as the bright sunlight hit her face, and shielded her eyes with a gloved hand.

"Morning sunshine, my you're a vision this morning!"

Key's syrupy cheerful voice caused black looks to be cast his way from all the women present.

Not phased in the slightest, his grin widened and he effortlessly pushed off the Inn wall, wandering over to converse with a gnome that was tinkering with some gadget that Anaiya couldn't recognize.

Anaiya sourly noted that he seemed to have completely recovered from the poison's threat last night. Not only that, he was obviously a morning person. Two goblins clambered out of the Inn shortly after, followed soon by Verfanas, Umber, and to Anaiya's dismay, the gnome mage.

"Laris has decided to come see the Spiritspeaker with us. He's curious about this mysterious person. But don't worry, after that he's heading off for Tanaris. Isn't that right Laris?"

Verfanas gave the gnome an amused glance. He nodded, then wrinkled his nose as if he smelled something bad. Clearly he was reluctant to go back and face this "Jemma" but Anaiya assumed that her aunt had talked him into it.

"By all means, why not? While we're at it, lets invite the King of Stormwind and a horde of stampeding monkeys. You alliance collect followers like a dog collects fleas" Shana of course, with an irritated eye roll.

"Can we go now Aunt Ver? I feel like we're losing time here. The sooner we get there and figure out the first part of this mystery, the sooner we can get rid of the needy fan club."

Anaiya said, just for Shana's benefit, carefully kept her face blank and voice emotionless, but grinned inside as she said it. Shana eyed her as if she was a performing animal that had just learned a new trick. Key gave her a mock hurt look, bringing his hand to his chest in an exaggerated wounded gesture.

The gnome scowled up at her with a wrathful look, which certainly may have looked a lot more threatening if the creature was able to stand taller than a young child.

Bessany snickered loudly, then tried to appear contrite.

"I'm only concerned for your wellbeing and safety, darling. It concerns me that you're facing danger so readily!"

Key's exclamation was so full of mock adoration that Anaiya almost couldn't suppress the urge to smack him upside the head with her staff.

Her fingers actually twitched on her weapon, moving it forward somewhat before she could get a hold of herself. He was so…cocky! So infuriating. How could Blood Elf females stand their male counterparts?

Shana groaned, intruding upon Key and Anaiya's staring contest.

"Well, come on then everyone. I've had enough sappy love moments on this trip to last me a lifetime, fake or otherwise." She slanted a look first at Key, who raised an eyebrow and mumbled a protest about his interest in Anaiya being more than just superficial, and then a second glance to Ver, who grinned back, unrepentant.

As they all more or less comfortably set out together, leaving Everlook's white walls behind, Anaiya fell into step beside the Forsaken.

"I understand why your with us on our journey here, since you just want to get back to the Eastern Kingdoms and your home and this is the most convenient way, but what I don't understand is why your going with us to talk to the Spritspeaker. There's no reason for you to come, not that I mind!"

She hastily added at the end. Anaiya was curious as to why the Priestess was following them to the isolated cave that the Spiritspeaker was said to reside in. They had asked around in Everlook for any evidence of the person they were looking for, or even a point in the right direction.

What shocked them, as they had assumed that the Spiritspeaker was someone well hidden and isolated, wanting nothing to do with the rest of humanity, was that most of the small Goblin town of Everlook knew about "their" Spiritspeaker, who always helped out a distressed soul.

"Oh, I'm not here for you, or anyone else, and make no mistake-at the first chance I see, I'm getting off this banshee-cursed continent, but since that idiot paladin insists on accompanying you everywhere like a lovesick buffoon, I thought I may as well come along for the amusement of seeing him make a fool of himself over a female." The Priestess snorted a laugh, a low, hoarse sound.

"He saved my life, he has every right to come along on this trip to see the Spiritspeaker. I think…I think it's noble that he is concerned for my welfare." Without really thinking, Anaiya blurted those words, having an absurd urge to defend the paladin.

The second the words were out of her mouth, she desperately wanted to take them back, and blushed hotly, her pale violet skin turning a darker color with mortification. The Forsaken actually stopped for a few paces, abruptly jerking her head toward Anaiya in surprise.

Key, who was far enough ahead to have not heard the conversation (thank Elune for small favors), turned to regard them curiously as they fell behind.

"Not that I have any feelings for him whatsoever!" Anaiya hastily added into the silence, wanting to make that perfectly clear.

"I despise him, he's an insensitive womanizer, never mind the fact that he's Horde." She said the word Horde as one would say cockroach, a detestable creature that caused disaster and mayhem wherever it went. Then, again winced mentally. Shana pursed her dry, grayed lips, making the undead flesh twist grotesquely.

"I see you've made your opinion clear." She stated coldly, then quickly strode ahead to stand next to Key. The paladin hesitated, gave Anaiya a questioning look, then continued walking, Shana at his side.

Anaiya sighed loudly and bit her lip. What a mess she'd just made.

_'Way to go idiot. Just open your big fat mouth and spout whatever comes to mind. Ugh, when will I learn to control my tongue!_'

Her mood, already on the downside because of the earliness of the day (not a Night Elf's favorite time), and being constantly flirted with, plummeted to an all time low.

Feeling distinctly morose and sulky, she didn't start walking again until she realized she'd been passed already by Bessany; Umber, who had taken the rear again, paused at her side, cocking his head to give her an appraising look.

Heaving another loud, dramatic sigh, she trudged on through the snow, quickening her pace to catch up with the others. She settled in next to Bessany, but kept her tongue silent, not wanting to provoke her new Horde friend with her unwitting words as well. Bessany, who herself was normally quiet, didn't think anything unusual with Anaiya's behavior, and gave her friend a warm smile as they walked.

They headed north from Everlook, following a faint woods trail that led to Frostsaber Rock, a rather prominent and popular attraction to those few adventurers who traveled this far north in Kalimdor. Apparently Frostsaber rock was named for the beautiful, rare, and exotic Frostsabers, which were large, striped cats that were normally only found in northern climes.

Rumor had it in Everlook that there was a man living out at the Rock, who tamed and trained wild Frostsabers, and sold them for ridiculously outrageous prices to those who had the patience to earn his trust.

Unfortunately, they had intended to leave the main path somewhat around midday, well before reaching the famed Frostsaber Rock, and would then head east toward the mountain range that ringed Mount Hyjal. Anaiya wanted very much to see a Frostsaber for herself but knew that she had responsibilities.

Still, she vowed to herself, one day when she'd rescued the poor trapped dragon, and completed her training in Darnassus, she had hopes of again visiting Winterspring and seeing the Frostsabers.

Actually, she wanted very much to explore all of the wide world of Azeroth and see all the wondrous sights that her aunt always wrote her about or told stories about. And maybe, if she became strong enough, even visit the mysterious Outland. As they walked along at a brisk pace, Anaiya sighed and wondered to herself why no one ever mentioned that most adventuring involved a lot of traveling and less drama and fighting then they let on.

Although, remembering the vicious attack of those Nightmare creatures, she wasn't sure if she should be complaining about the long trek. True to her word, Verfanas turned the party east at around midday when the sun was at its zenith, shining almost straight down on them. To the side, Anaiya amused herself with watching her distorted shadow play along the snow.

After watching her shadow until her eyes hurt from the glare of the sun off the layers of snow, Anaiya was just about to turn her head to strike up a conversation with Bessany when she gasped, accidentally breathing in the frigid northern air. Her shadow had suddenly grown overlarge, and had grown long, reptilian wings. She stopped so suddenly that Key ran into her.

He grinned at her, but upon seeing her shaken expression, looked to where she was staring. He didn't see anything unusual, just her shadow lying innocently against the white blanket of snow beside her, small and somewhat distorted because of the position of the sun in the sky.

Behind Key, Shana called out to Verfanas, who stopped and marched back to where Anaiya was standing, surrounded by the rest. Key waved an elegant pale hand in front of the young elf's face, and got no reaction. Concerned, he shook her.

"Ana babe? You in there? Speak up darlin'."

At his words, Anaiya seemed to come back to herself; with a blink of confused, somewhat lost eyes, the druid glanced around her, only to see with some startlement that the entire party was circling her and staring at her with various expressions of concern.

"I had the strangest…daydream." She murmured, turning to set her eyes back on her shadow. She shook her head, then automatically curled wayward bangs back behind her ears. "It was so real, so scary." Verfanas reached out and, taking off a glove, felt Anaiya's forehead, then pronounced her of normal temperature.

"What happened babe?" Key asked what they were all thinking, feeling a slight pang of worry for the slight druid.

She frowned at him, annoyed at being referred to as 'babe' yet again, but then remembered the morphed shadow.

"For a moment it looked like my shadow had turned into the shadow of a dragon. It was very strange." She shrugged, somewhat uneasily, and laughed.

"Oh well, its nothing, just the sun in my eyes from staring at all this snow for so long. Come on lets go!" She started forward, forcing the others to hurry to catch up and resume their normal formation.

They'd taken no more than a couple of steps beyond that point when they were set upon by large wingless dragon kin.

From both sides of the party, heavily muscled, blue colored dragon creatures charged at them, wearing armor and wielding all manner of deadly weaponry.

Anaiya's mouth fell open in complete shock, and to her mortification, she froze in place as one such creature narrowed its eyes on her and bore down on her slight form. Looking into its eyes, she saw something that chilled her to the bone.

She found nothing in those eyes, nothing but the same swirling green madness she'd seen in the eyes of the lynx that had attacked her at the cave pass, what seemed like eons ago.

The creature made some sort of warbling noise, and two smaller, and more lightly armored creatures also turned from their path and lunged at her as well. Anaiya stood still, frozen in fear. Her mind screamed at her to run, to get out of the way, to do _something_, but her body wasn't obeying her commands. It was like a moment in slow motion, where you knew what was inevitably coming, but could do nothing to stop it.

She clasped her staff across her chest in a fighting stance at the last possible second, bracing for the impact of those large bodies slamming into her, knowing they would easily crush her despite this fragile defense. In one smooth motion, Key roughly grabbed her from behind and yanked her none too gently to the side.

She cried out, a small scream, as he flung her into the snow, and out of harms way. The dragon kin, not able to slow their headlong rush, slammed into Key moments later.

He was quick enough to get his shield up to deflect most of the damage their bodies would have inflicted, and was thankful at the strong, enchanted metal that the shield was crafted from. The creatures, seeing what he had done, gave him crazed, hate-filled glances, and then wheeled, wanting to finish their chosen prey quickly. Key lashed out, catching the largest one across the face and slicing open its snout to the bone.

Blood immediately welled up out of the wound and spilled into the creature's mouth. With a snarl, it attacked him full out. The other two by its side, seeing that this man creature was challenging their leader, rushed to its aid, attacking Key from either side while the bigger, darker one harried him from the front.

Sweat broke out on his forehead as he used all his skill and agility to dodge their blows and prevent their weapons or talons from harming him. One did manage to graze his shoulder with a spear, before he ran it through with his sword. The creature made that strange warbling noise before collapsing to the side, dead before it hit the ground, its abdomen spilling thick, tainted blood.

"Don't let their blood touch you!" Someone, he thought it sounded like Shana, yelled a warning from off to the right. Key didn't have even a moment to spare to acknowledge the warning, as the other two dragon kin were now pressing their attacks more fiercely.

A side swipe from a spear almost made him loose his footing, which at this point would have spelled death. He managed at the last moment to catch his footing, but stumbled into one of the beasts. It wasted no time in pounding him in the back of the head with a dagger hilt. Stars exploded in his vision.

With extraordinary effort, he grimly rolled away from the spear thrust that followed. The creature with the sliced open mouth snarled in fury and frustration. It yanked on the spear, only to find that the spear had been covered in tiny grasping vines, which greedily climbed up the shaft toward the creatures clawed appendages. The vines sported tiny, shining thorns that seemed to glint wickedly in the sunlight.

The creature veritably howled with rage, and lashed the spear with its tail. The powerful blow broke the spear cleanly in half, and the top half that was not rooted to the ground spun quickly through the air. Key barely ducked out of the way to avoid being skewered by the spearhead. Seemingly nonplused by the loss of its weapon, the dragon kin again homed in on the paladin, who was fighting for breath.

The second one, spear raised high, gave him a snaggle-toothed grin full of promises of agony and suffering. Key knew that he was in trouble. He was winded, unrested from the half a days walk out here through the snow, his spirit was being slowly sapped by that accursed poison, and these creatures were both larger and stronger. It was sheer luck and a timely spell by Anaiya that had kept him alive thus far.

The second before the creatures had attacked in a flurry of displaced snow and cloaking magic, Verfanas felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. She suddenly became aware of the deadly silence in the area.

No birds, no wildlife; it seemed like nature herself was holding her breath, waiting for…something to happen. She stopped abruptly, eyes narrowed, glancing around in a reflexive, wary fashion.

Reaching out to her connection with the moon goddess Elune, she asked for the blessing of the wild, of all things natural, to envelope her, to give her the clarity to see what was wrong. The soft, feather light touch of the blessing calmed Ver somewhat, and she smiled, before reaching out with her mind to the surrounding snowy hillside.

Her mind touched on countless unclean minds, minds bent on death and destruction, minds warped by evil and tainted magic. Before she could open her mouth to shout a warning, they were set upon by the very creatures she'd sensed.

She had time for one glance toward the rest of the party, worry for her traveling companions filling her thoughts, before she was forced to focus on staying alive. A vivid blue dragon kin, which as the name implied, was the mutated kin to the great dragon aspects, lunged at her, wielding a long wicked spear crusted in dried blood.

Ver growled low in her throat. The growl grew in volume, until suddenly a large, powerfully built bear stood where the tall, willowy druid had been. The dragon kin, somehow sensing that it had taken on more than it could handle, backpedaled desperately.

The bear's maw spread in a chilling parody of a smile, and it charged the blue creature headlong. Ver kept her head down, between her shoulder blades, as she'd been taught by druids before her. This helped mitigate the shock of ramming your skull into something solid, like say…a living being.

The impact of her thick skull smashing into the creature's midsection left her momentarily stunned despite her precautions, but she needn't have been concerned because the creature, wind knocked clean out of its lungs, gave a wheeze and clutched at its chest. Before it could recover and threaten her again, Ver quickly lashed out a paw full of razor sharp claws and gutted the beast.

Its insides streamed out into the snow, and it fell over sideways without so much as a sound. She was suddenly tackled from the side, and turned to defend herself against yet another dragon kin.

This one was more cautious, staying just out of reach of her claws and snapping jaws. When she lunged toward it, the beast danced out of the way, jabbing with its spear in the hopes of scoring a hit.

Her thick, matted pelt helped turn the thrusts aside, although she did feel the sting of the spear's attack more than once. This only served to infuriate her further. She roared loudly, the sound reverberating off the not so distant mountains and echoing among the foothills.

The dragon kin glanced about nervously, but was determined to finish the druid, finish them all, as it had been directed to do so. Why it would suddenly feel the need to leave its home, leave its tiny whelplings undefended in their next, and attack a group of innocent sentient beings, the dragon kin didn't know, and deep inside, it felt this was something to think about.

But the wall of green fire kept the creature from pondering this properly, and it did what it was told with little hesitation. Verfanas repelled a spear thrust with a swipe of a paw, barely able to keep the blade from piercing her chest.

She panted, great gouts of frosty air snorted through her nose, and her heavy fur, an advantage in a fight, was beginning to become cumbersome on somewhat who spent most of her time upright with no fur, or in the lithe, light furred body of a panther. She had decided in that split second before the first dragon kin had lunged at her, that a bear would be more useful in this fight then a cat.

Up in the foothills at the base of the mountains, the jungle panther's lungs would be strained and would tire easily. She knew that the bear, with its efficient, calculating mind, would not find this an obstacle, and its thick fur and bulk would also be of advantage against the these large, powerful creatures.

After endless moments of dodging the spear and looking for an opening, Verfanas bashed into the creature again, using her skull as a battering ram to knock aside its spear. The creature raked its own talons down her unprotected back, and she felt lines of fire from the wounds.

From under its reaching arms, she reared straight up on sturdy hind legs. Now she stood a head taller or more than the dragon kin, and had just enough momentum and surprise from the abrupt change of position that she caught the creature across the throat with her own strong jaws before it could react and defend itself.

It struggled briefly, lashing her with its tail and talons, before she bore down with the iron strength of her jaws and heard the satisfying crunch of crushed cartilage. The creature instantly went limp and she dropped it to the snow, now red with blood, both hers and the mutated dragon creatures she'd killed.

She panted heavily, and gingerly lifted her left paw, which had been sliced by a spear that she hadn't even felt. Now that her blood was calming, she found to her alarm that she could see tendons and the white gleam of bone through the matted fur and blood.

Just as she noticed this, the pain washed over her of all her wounds, and she nearly shifted back to her original form by accident.

She held firm to the bear form though, knowing that she would need to help the others, despite the dizzying pain of her wounds.

Shana and Bessany immediately drew closer together as the beasts attacked, instinctively seeking each other, knowing they needed to stay alive to heal anyone who had been injured.

Bessany hesitantly glanced at Shana when the Forsaken pulled on the Tauren. Shana gestured to a boulder off the path, and Bessany frowned. She didn't like the idea of hiding when her party members…who she had come to know quite well, were fighting, may be dying, to defend them. Shana gave her an exasperated look.

"We can't do anything to help, cow. We're not fighters." Shana reminded the Tauren.

Bessany snorted. Right now, she wished more than anything that she had chosen a different path. But the Earth Mother had given Bessany the gift of healing, and she had taken to that calling eagerly, happy to be of help to those in need.

No way would she hide like a mewling calf. She may not be able to kill without a thought or survive against one of those creatures for any length of time, but by the Mother, she would be of help! She shrugged off Shana's boney grasp and rushed back toward the fray.

The Priestess shouted something from behind her, but she honestly wasn't even paying the Priestess any mind by this point.

"You're going to get us killed along with them, you know." Shana's dry, scratchy voice came from directly behind her, and Bessany's tail lashed in relief at not being alone.

Together they surveyed the scene. They saw Verfanas facing off against a large, light blue dragon kin, limping on one front paw and desperately trying to kill the creature before she was wounded any further.

Key had been pressed up against an evergreen, sword a whirling blur of death, trying to find an opening in his enemy's defenses. Against him looked to be the largest of the creatures, and Bessany assumed that it was also the leader behind the unprovoked attack. Anaiya was staring in open mouthed shock , lying on her side in the snow beside the paladin.

Bessany took a moment to scrutinize her friend, concerned she may have been gravely injured. But no, after a moment she determined that the girl was just shocked. Well she'd have to learn to fight back at some point.

This was a beautiful, if deadly world. The rogue, Umber, seemed to be faring the best, dashing around his two targets with astonishing speed, little more than a blur of motion with a manic grin on his face. His daggers spun and whirled in a deadly dance of death, slicing and cutting at the flank, tail, snout, stubby wings, and feet of the dragon kin. They roared in fury at the attacks, which were light and seemed non threatening.

But even as Bessany watched, one dragon kin appeared to become dizzy and clumsy. It stumbled, shook its head, then its tongue darted out of its snout, black and thick. It seemed to gasp desperately, before collapsing.

The second dragon kin stared in horror at its comrade, but it was already too late. Within moments, the second was suffering the same fate as the first. Unbeknownst to Umber, a dragon kin had seen its fellows bested by the lightening fast rogue, and had stealthily slipped around behind him, slowly inching forward.

Incredibly, Umber didn't seem to notice. Apparently all that dancing around had tired him. He wiped sweat from his brow and shaded his eyes against the glaring sun, most likely looking around for Verfanas. Bessany turned wide eyes on Shana.

"Do something quick! That dragon kin is going to kill him!"

Sure enough, the dragon kin hauled back and hurled its spear with deadly accuracy straight at the rogue's unsuspecting back. Shana muttered something darkly, then huffed. With a sudden wave of her hands, bright golden light bathed her in its radiance.

The light dimmed, then sprang up suddenly around the rogue, coalescing into a shining globe of sheer light that encompassed his entire form. He glanced around in amazement, and caught side of the dragon kin behind him. His mouth opened in a soundless cry at the spear heading toward him.

The spear, though, hit the golden globe of light and bounced harmlessly off, to clatter point down into the snow a hairs breadth from his feet. Bessany let out the breath she'd been holding simultaneously with the rogue, who then drew his twin daggers and closed with the approaching dragon kin.

Shana snorted in obvious disgust, but gave Bessany an amused eyebrow twitch nonetheless. Bessany could have hugged her.

Laris, the gnome mage who had insisted on coming with them to see the Spiritspeaker, desperately kept the large, powerful dragon kin at a distance by shooting frostbolts, fireballs, and anything else he could think of at them to slow them down.

Trapping their feet in ice seemed to do the trick for mere moments, before they were again bearing down upon him. He yelped in dismay and fright. Using his concentration and pent up magic, he sent his body hurtling forward about 10 paces, putting much needed space between him and the determined, lumbering brutes.

Already, his tiny lungs were gasping. He was not used to having to fend for his life, having spent most of it in the historical ward in Ironforge.

'_Light, if I survive this, I'm going to marry Jemma the moment she opens her mouth to ask. I swear it_.'

His desperate thoughts were interrupted by a near decapitation by one of the creature's ridiculously long spears. Fortunately, his scramble to escape the two beasts led him straight to Umber.

Sighing in relief, he ducked under the human's legs, and pointed behind himself desperately to get the human's attention. Umber raised an eyebrow, but in moments his daggers were flying in a deadly dance against the two creatures. Laris took a welcome breath, feeling himself trembling from head to toe.

Anaiya stared mutely at the death being meted out around her, and a sense of fury, of frustration rose inside of her. The longer she watched, the more her fury grew. She was sick of being helpless.

She was sick of being the weak link that needed to be protected, the inexperienced girl that had been given permission to come on this journey only because of her obvious connection with the mysterious artifact.

The artifact!

Mind racing, Anaiya dug into her pouch, and could have cried with despair when the gem became stuck in the opening, before she yanked it out of the pouch, ripping the drawstring in the process. She didn't care at this point.

Staring down at the multi-faceted gem, she saw her own reflection, and noticed that her eyes were set in grim determination. Around her, her friends and family could be, would be dying. She knew they couldn't keep this up forever, and it seemed that there were an overwhelming number of the strange dragon like creatures. She had to do something.

She remembered what the dragon had screamed in her mind, that he was extremely powerful, that he would crush her once released, that he had magic at his disposal that she'd never even dreamed of.

Well, her dreams had gotten quite…carried away as of late. She knew that deep in the heart of this tiny little trinket, rested a being of immense power and strength. And she also knew that with the right circumstances, she might be able to tap into that strength and power. Narrowing her eyes, she gazed so deeply into the crystal that her eyes blurred and lost focus.

For the first time, she willed herself into the Emerald Dream.

With a gasp, she found that she was standing directly in front of the trapped dragon, Eranikus. The great, emerald dragon blinked down upon her, the same hazy green light in his eyes that she had found in the eyes of the creatures that had attacked at the Timbermaw Pass, and again just now.

Shaking her head, she backed away. No, she was mistaken. She would find no help here. Still, she didn't give up, and sent her mind further into the Nightmare, determined to move past it. It couldn't have stretched over the entirety of the Emerald Dream could it?

No, there! She saw gentle green light from ahead of her, and quickly sent her spirit zipping in that direction, ever mindful that out in the real world, a deadly battle was still underway.

Suddenly, with a sharp pop within her mind, she found herself in a lush rain forest, with verdant green vines and leaves hovering overhead, seeming to blow in a tropical breeze.

Far in the distance, she heard the cawing of exotic birds, and the occasional call of a hunting cat. The abrupt change of scenery would have amazed her at a different time, but she was focused on finding something to help her companions.

As her spirit walked further into this enchanted and untouched realm, she found that things grew more wild, more enchanted, more…everything, as she walked. Soon she came upon a lake.

A lake that was as clear and blue as the sky above Winterspring. A lake that literally gleamed and sparkled like diamonds, although there was no sun in sight in this quasi land. Entranced, Anaiya stepped toward the lake.

A low, warm chuckle drew her up short, and she frowned. Appearing as if by magic in the center of the lake, a grassy knoll rose up out of the sparkling oasis. Small glowing white lamps were situated at even intervals around the edge of the knoll.

As she watched, awestruck by the beauty and majesty of this sight, a large, green tinted being faded onto the visible plane right before her eyes. She blinked, and suddenly beheld the largest dragon she'd ever seen, larger by far than even Eranikus. Thoughts of her companions, of the battle, of _everything_, faded from her mind completely.

The chuckle, louder now, came again, and a reptilian head raised from the mound of emerald scales to appraise the elfling that had come before it. Anaiya gazed into eyes that looked at her, looked through her, and looked into her, all on different levels at the same time, and shivered imperceptibly.

This being, this was a creature of immense and ancient power, a being to be revered, feared, worshipped.

"**Worshipped? No young mortal, never would I wish to be worshipped. I am not a goddess, nor any other being of creation. I am merely myself**." The voice, echoing with a strange duality, as if the being was in two places at once, seemed to be inside her mind as well being heard with her physical ears. Or as physical as a sprit's ears could be in this place.

"What-" Anaiya stopped, licked her lips. "Who are you great lady, if not Elune herself" She bowed reverently as she spoke. The being chuckled again, wrapping a long, elegant tail around itself. It stared at her, still lying on its stomach as it had been when first appearing.

**"I am referred to by some as the Dreamer, The Green Mistress, Lady of Dreams, or Queen of Dreams, but my name is Ysera, and I am the Dragon Aspect of Nature, protector of the Emerald Dream."**

The dragon gazed upon Anaiya with a calm expression. Anaiya felt the shock of knowing a Dragon Aspect travel through her, and she trembled. A real dragon aspect. By Elune, she never expected that.

The Aspect's eyes glowed with an inner light, and seemed to change colors at will. Within those eyes, she saw an entire world. Mind spinning, all she could do was stare.** "Come young one, was there not a reason for you coming to the Eye?"**

Confused, Anaiya stammered "The Eye?"

**"Yes, the Eye of Ysera, where you now stand. It is the very center of the Dream, a most potent place."**

Finally she pulled her thoughts together and remembered her urgency, her need to stop the fighting and save her companions.

"My Lady Aspect, Queen Ysera, please, I would ask for your advice, if you would give it. I and my friends are in terrible danger. We are on a mission of utmost importance and these creatures attacked us without reason. They seem controlled or maddened. I would ask of you, is there anything that I can do to help stop this violence?"

She talked slowly, carefully, keeping her tone reverent and respectful, although the more she spoke, the more she recognized the urgency of finding some kind of aid. Surely terrible things must be happening while she was in the Dream.

The great dragon Ysera gazed silently at the young, worried druid, sensing in her strong magic, a strong affiliation with the natural magic that druids accessed in order to perform their spells and abilities. She sensed much potential, although in its raw, inexperienced form. This druid was young, perhaps too young, to have experienced the things she had. And yet, one could not turn back time.

Well, unless one was her brother Nozdormu anyway, she thought with a wry shake of the head. This situation had happened for a reason, and Ysera admitted to herself that somehow, she sensed that this druid was very important to her own future, to the future of the Emerald Dream. This made her uneasy, but she felt that doing nothing would yield grave consequences.

Even Ysera, the Dragon Aspect, was not all knowing. Finally, having made up her mind, she turned attention once more to the young elfling. Anaiya silently waited while the majestic dragon seemed to sink within her own thoughts, obviously wondering if it would benefit herself to help the druid.

Anaiya bit her lip to keep from mentioning Eranikus. Something, some tiny warning in her mind, forbade her from mentioning Ysera's beloved consort. She wasn't sure why, and not for the first time felt she was over her head in this, but she kept still, not revealing anything. Although she didn't know what she'd say if Ysera asked her how she'd gotten into the Dream to begin with.

Nervously she shifted from foot to foot, glancing back the way she'd come. Finally, the dragon queen seemed to wake up, shaking her head and fixing her rainbow hued eyes on Anaiya once again. The dragon's eyes were beginning to make Anaiya feel light headed and queasy from staring into them, but she didn't think that glancing away or staring at her feet would be well received.

The dragon drew breath, and Anaiya held hers, waiting for the response.

** "I have searched the Dream, young child, and searched your soul. I have found you to be of sound mind, of great heart. Your concern for your friends, even for your more…unusual, traveling companions, has warmed my heart. I sense in you the potential to be a strong druid, as strong as your father. So therefore, even though you are untrained, and inexperienced, I feel you are ready for this. I gift unto you, this natural spell, that most druids learn only after many, many years of training and dedication."**

The queen, for the first time, stood. She was all lithe grace, as agile as a cat half her size. Effortlessly, she was across the lake. She dipped her horned head downward, and breathed upon Anaiya. A sparkling green mist descended about her head like a mockery of a halo.

The mist coated her mouth and nose, causing her cough and wave her arms. It covered her face, it stuck in her eyes, and before she knew it, her entire vision was encompassed by shimmering green light.

**"Do not forget, young one. With great power, comes great responsibility**"

Though she could no longer see anything but verdant, vibrant green, the words seemed to grow inside her head. Suddenly, between one blink and the next, she was sitting in the snow, in broad daylight, surrounded by death and fighting.

It took one disoriented moment to understand that she was back in her body, back in Winterspring, before she quickly sprang to her feet. In her mind's eye, she could feel the rainbow gaze of the Aspect watching her.

With instinct she reached inside her mind, although intellectually, she was confused as to what she was doing. There, she knew. From the very bonds of nature around her, from the trees, laden with new fallen snow, from the frozen lake far to the south, from the life force of the birds, the wild bears, the Frostsabers, she drew…something. Some kind of essence.

It glowed in her mind's eye, until it overtook her physical vision. Using skills she didn't know she possessed, she molded this raw magic, and shaped it into a large, twinkling green net. This net grew and grew, until the holes between the weaving were so tiny as to be infinitesimal, non existent.

She reached out a hand, and murmured words that she knew, but didn't know, and flicked her wrist, albeit somewhat awkwardly, not knowing exactly what she was doing, but knowing it was right. From her mind, the net was cast.

She watched as it blanketed the entire scene of battle. She watched as it settled over the backs of the companions, over the heads, the deadly weapons, the bloodied claws, of her enemies. A stillness overcame the clearing.

Anaiya slumped, feeling drained magically. Whatever she had cast, that the Dragon Queen had gifted her with, it was more potent than her tiny magical skills would allow, and she felt drained physically and spiritually from its casting.

She fell to the ground on her backside, and blinked away green spots, only to watch in obvious relief as a dragon kin, who had been poised to run its spear through Key's heart, dropped the spear suddenly, as if it was red hot.

The creature abruptly backed away, standing up unconsciously straighter, constantly blinking clear blue eyes. It gazed down at the fallen paladin, then frowned and glanced around.

All around her, the various dragon kin were mirroring its kin, blinking and gazing about in confusion. Now Anaiya understood. They had been under some hideous spell of some sort, had been forced against their will to attack their party.

These creatures, while not inherently friendly, were not overly hostile or vicious by nature. They had family, they eked out a living in this snow covered land the same as their humanoid neighbors. The dragon kin moved toward each other, grouping up by the first one to recover, the largest, and darkest colored, with elaborately styled armor across its chest and back.

The warbling sound came, and Anaiya realized that they were communicating. They stared around them at the night elves, the human, the blood elf, the forsaken, the tauren, who they had attacked without warning, without reason, and they seemed saddened, ashamed.

Shaking their heads, with last glances, particularly for those fallen, the dragon kin melted into the snowy wilderness as quickly as they had come, determined to head back to their families and forget what had happened on that hillside. Verfanas, now in elven form, clutching a profusely bleeding hand that looked almost hacked off, gazed around in frustration.

Key opened his eyes, glanced quickly left and right, then stood up, blade ready. Laris blinked himself into the middle of the group, looked around, then shrugged. Bessany and Shana walked into their midst, also bewildered. Umber sheathed his dagger, and carefully put his arms around Ver, drawing her toward the two healers with a concerned, loving gesture.

A few more moments went by in stunned silence.

"So I'd just like to know, What the HELL happened?" Key blurted out finally, clearly agitated.

"I don't know, it was so strange. And did you see how their eyes changed? It was like they suddenly woke up and realized what they were doing. It was like a mass mind control spell, or something." Shana responded.

Now that the silence had been broken, they were all wanting to know what had happened. Finally, realizing that Anaiya had been sitting quietly in the snow the entire fight, and the entire time afterward, Key walked up to her and crouched down.

He quickly looked her over with eyes for injuries, then held out his hand to help her up, despite his own injuries. Anaiya hesitated, not sure what response she was looking for to his obvious concern for her well being.

She gazed up at him quietly, before accepting his proffered hand. He hauled her to her feet, and she steadied herself against him.

"Well babe? Explain to us what happened." Key's voice was kindly, but stern.

He had guessed that Anaiya had something to do with the swift turn of events. Ver hissed, having just had her hand healed. Shana was now poking at the long, deep gashes across her back, that leaked blood.

The Priestess bit her decayed lip, then shook her head. She gestured to Bessany, who approached and also felt along the other druid's back, although more gently. She nodded, and a green mist surrounded her palm, resting against Ver's injured back.

The wounds glowed green, and blackish blood oozed out, to sizzle into nothing in the air. Shana nodded in satisfaction, and used her own ties to the Light to bind up the wounds. The injures would still hurt for a couple of days, and Ver would need to take it easy to avoid reopening the wounds, but they were, for the most part, healed. Together, the two very different healers worked on the injuries of the others.

Key still stood in front of Anaiya. He crossed his arms, waiting for an explanation.

"It's hard to explain what happened. I saw what was happening, I knew everyone was in danger. I knew I had to do something!" Her quiet-spoken voice stopped the actions of the others, and they drew closer.

"I knew it may have been dangerous to try, but I had to do it. I sent my mind into the soul gem. I remembered how it felt, how it happened the other times, so I just tapped into that, except I was aware of what I was doing this time, and I willingly entered the Dream. At first, all I could see was the Nightmare, and Eranikus was there. But I knew I wouldn't find help there. His magic was twisted, evil and corrupted. I didn't know what I was seeking, but I knew I'd know it when I found it."

Everyone was now staring at her. Anaiya searched the ground hear her for a distraction, found the telltale glint of emerald green, and picked up the soul gem in question. She held it in her hands, staring deep into the many facets. The face that stared up at hers was nearly unrecognizable, seemed older, more mature than before.

"I came to a place that wasn't taken over by the Nightmare. It was green…it was beautiful beyond imagining. My mind can't even comprehend the sanctity, the beauty of that sacred place. I walked until I came to a lake. There was a dragon sitting in the middle of the lake. She said her name was Ysera, and she was the Dragon Queen of Dreams. She said the Dream was her realm, and she knew I had come to her asking for help. She looked into me…she saw everything about me."

Anaiya shivered, and Key put his arms around her. For once, she didn't protest or tell him to get lost. It felt nice to be comforted.

"Ysera, she was powerful, and beautiful, and so very big. I have never imagined dragons could get that big. She said she would give me a gift, and that I would know what to do with it. Then she breathed on me. I couldn't see, everything was so green and bright. Then I was back here. I had this…thing in my mind, this knowing of what to do. So I built this net, out of magic."

"I cast it on everyone. I don't really know what it was, but it was like…it cleansed everything, everyone. It helped them fight off the control, remember who they were. That's why they stopped attacking. But I don't know what it was I did, or even if I'd be able to do it again. Do you know what it was Aunt Ver?"

Anaiya looked a question at her aunt, who had a stunned expression on her face.

"Aunt Ver?" Anaiya prodded.

"You met Ysera? The ruler of the Dream? The Aspect of Nature herself? By Elune, Ana, that's serious news." Her aunt shook her head in disbelief.

"And I can't believe you cast that spell successfully. My stars girl, you need training and knowledge more now than ever. What you cast was a Cleansing, one of the most powerful I've seen in a long time, especially from someone so young." She shook her head again, in amazement.

Everyone else was also staring at her in varying degrees of awe, hesitation, and alarm. Anaiya felt like slinking back home to Darnassus like a kicked kitten. She didn't want this attention or awe, or anything!

That wasn't her intention. She just didn't want anyone dying. She felt tears prickle her eyes, but by taking calming breaths, she was able to get a hold of herself. She couldn't act like a little girl any longer.

This was obviously going to be a very serious, of times deadly quest, and she had better be more prepared for situations like this. In this, she agreed with her aunt. She eagerly wanted more training, to be able to actually do something herself.

Sure she had been the one to cast to spell, but she knew Ysera's hand was behind it. She became aware that the paladin was now more leaning on her than she leaning on him, and focused her attention on him.

He looked exhausted and pale, and had a bloody cut on his brow. Elsewhere she spied numerous stab wounds and shallow cuts on his body.

"Bessany? Heal him please." She tried to keep her voice level, but her wavering voice betrayed her own concern in the blood elf. He gave her a tired, watered down version of his usual lecherous smirk, before Bessany set to work on his wounds, hands glowing with green healing light.

Anaiya watched her work, then gathered up her dignity.

"…Keyanomir, Key, thank you for saving my life, again. If you hadn't pushed me out of the way just then…thank you." She gazed at him.

He nodded at her thoughtfully, searching her eyes for something, she didn't know what, before ruining the moment by using the advantage of his height to look down her shirt.

Anaiya gasped and shoved him, Off balance from his wounds, he landed sprawled in the snow. Unperturbed, Bessany leaned down to get better access to her patient while she healed him.

Umber was now fervently kissing Verfanas on the lips, the forehead, the cheeks, grateful she was going to be okay. She smiled back tiredly at him, and the two huddled in on each other.

Everyone seemed shell shocked and utterly exhausted, so, with great strength of will and help from Bessany, Ver melted a small patch of the cold icy snow away from the side of a protecting hill, and they all hunkered down on the now dry grass, grateful for the rest.

Verfanas snuggled into the blanket she had firmly wrapped around herself and her human love, and the two were quietly and earnestly whispering. Laris studied a book of arcane gibberish, every so often commenting to Shana about something he found to be particularly interesting.

The Priestess sent him black looks every now and then, hoping he'd get the hint, but he either didn't get it, or ignored it, and continued babbling to her. Bessany snored softly, curled in on herself with soft animal fur blankets piled on top of her furred form, creating a very odd picture. The sun had by this time, sunk toward the west, and cast orange-gold light across their small encampment.

Anaiya sat and stared at the gem, thinking about what they would find when they reached the Spiritspeaker. For a wonder, Key was seated beside her, polishing his blade and every once in a while giving Anaiya glances.

The more he glanced at her, the more perplexing his expression became, as if he couldn't quite figure out what to do with her. Eventually, they all succumbed to sleep.

It wasn't until right before she closed her eyes in sleepy exhaustion that Anaiya remembered a particular part of what the Dragon Aspect had said ""_A great Druid, like your father.""_ She had always wondered who that was, considering her mother never spoke of him, seeming to becoming grief-stricken every time Anaiya used to mention him. So she learned, over time, to not ask and just be content with a mother.

But she wondered, deep in her heart, just as she wondered now. Finally, knowing that it wouldn't do to dwell on what she couldn't change at the moment, she closed her eyes and slipped off into the world of dreams.

Safely tucked away within its pouch, the soul gem pulsed green, glowing brightly, before winking out. Everything was then covered in a calm, peaceful black, interrupted by the occasional wildlife.


	15. Ch 15: The Oddest People Live in Caves

A/N: Here I am folks! Sorry about the long wait, I was being lazy and spent most of my time reading other people's fanfiction to worry about my own. I apologize for this chapter being so short, but I has 2 reasons for that. One: I didn't want to put off posting when it's already been several weeks! Thats not fair to you loyal readers. And Two: The next chapter is going to have a lot going on...like tons as I've been planning on this curveball for quite some time and am looking forward to writing it. I needed an entire chapter to start it up. *Evil laugh*. So anyway, here's the update. I hope you all haven't completely given up hope on me. I'm thinking by Wednesday next week (exactly one week from today) I shall determine to get the next chapter up! I've decided to set goals for myself so that I can work on this better. Thank you all so very much for reviewing. Oh that reminds me!

PS-Anonymous reviewer that I don't know. You made a comment about Key and how since Blood Elves are addicted to magic he should be feeling some sort of effect? Well I'll explain this here since it doesn't fit in the story to put in an explaination. In my view, most Blood Elves are casters and/or use Mana in some form. Which means they are drawing on magic. So they shouldn't be suffering from any sort of magical "withdrawl". I should think that any self respecting Blood Elf who has the intelligence to survive their first years of life has learned some means of coping with this addiction without turning into a Wretched, and has ways of preventing of this from happening. And ask yourself, do you see any players in game going all crazy from lack of magic? No, course not. Just like the characters we all play in the game, Key has learned to adapt to his situation, and uses the resources available to him to prevent his addiction from becoming a full fledged problem. Besides, it's not like he's being cut off from his, or any one else's magic. But thank you for asking that, I hope this explaination clears up your confusion over that.

PPS-One more thing before I begin! I'm trying to keep this as game related as possible, with spells and abilities and zones being as close to the real thing as I can make them. But one thing I am changing is how healing/wounds/death etc works. In my story, as in real life, if you die thats it. No magical ticket back to life (except in special circumstances) and no handy dandy nearby player to resurect you. After all, this is a real world to my characters, with real lives and real souls with real feelings. I feel like my story would be cheapened by the ability to run back to your corpse after you die, or if another party member would be able to 'rez' you. Hope my opinion doesn't disappoint or confuse anyone further.

Again thank you for reading. And review please! I love reading your comments and it always inspires me to get to work on more, and I love to hear any thoughts/opinions/critisizm on each chapter! So by all means, leave a review!

* * *

Chapter 15: You Meet Some of the Oddest People in Caves

"Ho the camp!" Verfanas called out the warning in an overly loud, cheerful voice as the party came upon the small, isolated cave that the Spiritspeaker supposedly resided in.

The cave opening was large, and looked none too welcoming. Anaiya quietly regarded the darkness that hid the interior from view, her mind elsewhere. She knew for a certainty now that the attack on their group was not just random violence.

Someone, or something was sending creatures against them, hoping to kill them and either take back the soul gem or make sure it was forever lost. This made her quite nervous and jumpy for the remainder of the trip, flinching at every shadow and noise.

Movement in the cave heralded the arrival of the occupant. Anaiya stared in shock. Was this the Spiritspeaker? He certainly didn't look like someone who could commune with spirits and cursed souls. She crossed her arms.

Verfanas had seen him even before he'd come out of the shadows, her Elven vision being sharp and well trained to spot such things. The Spiritspeaker, as it was indeed he, took in the party at his doorstep, and beamed cheerfully from behind a bristling brown mustache that was just turning gray.

He was human, with nondescript shoulder length brown hair, also shot with silver, average colored brown eyes, and a brown mustache and goatee. He was wearing a long royal purple robes of simple cut, and carried no weapons that the party could see. Around his neck he proudly sported at least half a dozen necklaces of various design and color, each no doubt randomly chosen individually because of their pretty nature.

When added together, the effect was rather like a clown one would see performing at the Darkmoon Fair. Verfanas scowled. The Spiritspeaker's wide, dreamy smile was already ticking her off.

"Greetings travelers!" The man's voice was cheerful and calm, as if inviting a favored relative into the home for tea and biscuits.

He waved an arm behind him into the cave, then disappeared back into the darkness. Verfanas exchanged glances with Umber, who shrugged. The rest of the group, having already decided that Ver was the unofficial leader, hovered hesitantly around her.

Finally with an aggrieved sigh, the older Druid entered the cave, muttering about lunatics and dragons. It wasn't a very deep cave, but was incredibly high. A dragon could stand quite comfortably inside with no fear of hitting its head on the rock ceiling.

There were numerous torches once they'd gotten past the initial darkness of the entrance. Anaiya wondered why the entrance was so dark and misleading when the interior was so bright and welcoming.

At the far back there was a small cot, with a table situated nearby. Both bed frame and table were made out of the same strange white wood. Several exotic tapestries and banners hung willy nilly around the cave, in no particular order, each with its own color scheme and depiction. Some tapestries depicted ancient and bloody battles, some were abstract paintings of plants and people.

One banner had a symbol that Anaiya was sure represented the Satyrs. The tablecloth was itself of a different color than everything else, a bright orange with yellow daisy print. Underneath the table was a large fur rug, which didn't match anything.

The cot was covered in patched and mismatched blankets of absurd and vibrant colors that hurt the eyes. And oddly enough, there was an array of high backed chairs set in an arch along the right side of the cave. Counting the chairs, Anaiya was shocked to discover that there were just enough for each of her companions and herself.

Key snorted beside her, and she glanced at him, only to notice that he had caught sight of the chairs as well. He raised a blonde eyebrow at her. Anaiya shrugged in response. The Spiritspeaker was standing by the table with the same welcoming smile on his face, his eyes glinting cheerily.

For some reason this annoyed Anaiya. After all they'd gone through, she felt offended by his good cheer.

"It is so good of you to arrive. Come seat yourselves. You are late you know; I was expecting you yesterday. But no matter." The man waved his arm languidly, as if ridding himself of the thought.

Everyone stared at him unblinkingly.

No one made a move.

Finally, Ver coughed awkwardly.

"Excuse me, did you say we were 'late'?" She glanced around at the rest of the party, who gave her equally confused glances. Her eyes narrowed.

"Were you expecting us? Who told you we'd be here? Does this have anything to do with that ambush? If I find you were behind that…" Her voice became low and threatening.

The man seemed taken aback by her tone, and his hand fluttered to his neck in alarm.

"Oh my!" He muttered, then repeated it again louder.

"What I meant was, the Spirits had told me that a group of six adventurers would arrive on the day of warm sunshine and would come seeking the freedom of a powerful soul"

He made another expansive gesture toward the chairs.

"As you can see, you are the only visitors that match that description. Although the Spirits say that the six will become more before your journey is done. Maybe we'll be friends!"

Reluctantly they all moved over and sat down on the chairs. As always Key snatched up the closest seat to Anaiya, and gave her leg what she supposed was a comforting pat, but with his knowing smirk turned into something else. She scowled at him.

"Much better, much better!" The Spiritspeaker crowed happily, taking a seat behind his table.

"I'd ask if you'd like tea, but I haven't got any sadly," He glanced around his desk in an unhappily perplexed way, as if looking for some heretofore hidden tea that would spring out of the air and pour itself.

"An ambush sounds scary, no it wasn't me. Could have been that crazy Quetzalcoatl though, I hear he's always up to no good, causing doom and chaos among the poor foolish trolls who worship him misguidedly. You don't happen to have any do you?"

"Wait what?" Verfanas spluttered, trying to keep up with the conversation. "You think the ambush was caused by who? What's a quartz- whatever you said? And do we happen to have any what?" She gritted her teeth.

"You are the Spiritspeaker correct? Umbranse the Spiritspeaker? We were told to seek your council in a matter of urgency." They'd seen him all of a handful of seconds and she already wanted to tear his face off.

Umber placed a placating hand on her shoulder, which she shrugged off.

The Spiritspeaker blinked.

"Why tea of course. I'd give any future offspring for a cup of tea. You know the denizens of Everlook always take good care of me, sending supplies up and making sure I'm safe in the winter, but they never think of the tea! Why is that do you think?"

He blinked bemusedly at them, clearly waiting for an answer. Ver sighed.

"Look you demented fool. We came here for some answers. If you don't shut your yap about your damn tea I'm going to shove my questions down your throat, along with my polearm! Is that clear?" The druid stood up and shook said polearm at the human, who cocked his head and regarded the weapon with a critical eye.

"There's a stain right there, where the blade meets the shaft. Do you see it? Looks like a blood stain, but it could be rust."

The man pointed at the weapon. "There, right there. Yes, my name is Umbranse! How'd you guess? You're not a Spiritspeaker too, are you?"

Ver gaped at him, her face going red with anger. Before she could burst and do something regrettable like off the man, Anaiya stood up as well and stepped in front of her aunt. Ver let loose a high pitched snarl. Umber grabbed her arm and bundled her out of the cave.

There was silence for a few awkward seconds. Then came great growls and snarls and roars from outside, followed by thuds and crashes and clanking noises. Anaiya spread her hands apologetically.

"Sorry about my aunt, she has a short temper. I'm sure she'll be fine in a minute or two."

Everyone studiously avoided looking at the entrance, where they were sure Ver and Umber were scuffling.

The man grinned again. "No trouble at all my young beauty. Now where were we? Oh yes, the tea!"

Key covered his face with his palm.

Anaiya reached into her pouch and took out the soul gem, which gave off a soft green glow in the torchlight of the cave. She quietly set it on the table in front of the Spiritspeaker, who cut off his ramble about tea mid sentence when he saw it.

He gasped, then looked Anaiya in the eye with such a serious and grim expression that Anaiya stumbled backward a few paces before she could compose herself. The sudden switch from crazy tea-obsessed madman to serious and intelligent was so off-putting that she almost reached for her staff, tied securely across her back.

"Where did you get this?" The man asked absently as he reached out to touch it.

He hesitated a mere breath away from touching the artifact, and let his hand hover over the gem. It sparkled innocently on the table.

"My dear girl, do you know the significance of this? You have no idea of the troubles you've brought yourself do you?" He shook his head, and continued to mutter to himself as he gazed at the object.

"And you. I wonder how this will effect you in the end, and if indeed there is hope for you yet." He said this while peering into the crystal, and Anaiya frowned.

He obviously wasn't talking about her. Could he actually see into the gem's magical prison? Curiously she leaned forward. Her reflection stared back at her from the many facets in the gem.

"We need you to help us, sir." Her soft voice seemed to penetrate the man's thoughts, and he blinked and shook himself.

"Sir!" He giggled as he said it, as if the title amused him. "I haven't been called that in so long. Course, no one around to call me that lately." He gazed downward at the object again.

"Sir Umbranse the Spiritspeaker, I like the sound of that, don't you? What you need is a Gate. Between this world and the Dream. Only at a Gate will the spirit be broken and the blood be shed. And be sure to bring me back some tea eh?"

He covered Anaiya's hand with his own and patted it fondly. Anaiya frowned. The man was so confusing. His method of speaking was driving her crazy, no wonder her aunt became so furious.

"For the love of the Light, you crazy old coot, just tell us already and quite rambling!" Keys loud words made Anaiya smirk despite herself.

"So we need a gate? A gate into the Emerald Dream? That's what your saying right? What do you mean about breaking a spirit and shedding blood?" Anaiya bit her lip.

This all sounded so serious. She thought that the hard part of the quest would be the journey here; the Spiritspeaker would then say 'perform this ritual and voila! You have yourself a freed dragon'. Apparently it wasn't that easy.

The Spiritspeaker nodded encouragingly at her.

"Yes that is what I said, isn't it? But you need to put the proper emphasis on the Gate. It's not just any old gate, like in a picket fence, or to keep the bad guys out of the keep. You need a "Gate". Pretty intense stuff, that. Glad I'm not the one going. The sleeper must wake, the consort will be free, and the Blood God will fall. If the sacrifice is great enough, if the unity is strong enough, you will succeed. But time grows short, for the Eternal knows of your movements, and you will be hunted to the ends of Azeroth and beyond. Your task is far more important than you can even dream of knowing. The very essence of the world rests in your beautiful hands."

He picked up the gem and set it quite resolutely into Anaiya's hands, which she hastily cupped to keep the gem from falling.

"And what beautiful hands they are, may I say?" He proceeded to rub his skeletal fingers over Anaiya's palms.

A snort from behind her, and then Key batted the man's hands away. "Keep your paws to yourself, creep."

He pulled Anaiya slightly away from the Spiritspeaker, who looked hurt, but then smiled again happily.

"Ah, so romantic. Your children will be adorable! Make sure they drink plenty of tea to grow strong and brave. And don't worry, when all seems lost and hopeless, just look to the North and you'll find what you need."

"Um…thanks?" Anaiya stammered, rubbing her forehead. The Spiritspeaker nodded at her.

"We'll be going now, thank you for the 'advice', now we know not to stay in caves for any long period of time." Key told the human, voice laced with scorn and sarcasm as he backed Anaiya away from him.

Anaiya was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the past few minutes, so was easily led outside by the paladin.

"Well I think we learned all we needed to from that creepy child molester," Key stated loudly to the rest, who had trailed along after him.

Shana coughed and muttered "So what does that make you?" but Key ignored her.

"I'm not a child," Anaiya protested, waking up from her thoughts.

She moved away from Key, but nodded at him in thanks. Obviously the Spiritspeaker had spent far too much time alone in a cave. In front of them, Ver and Umber were attacking each other with a frenzy that would have concerned Anaiya if she didn't know that they truly cared about each other.

Of course she remembered when she'd first found her aunt in Nighthaven they were doing the same thing, and figured it must be a way for Aunt Ver to blow off steam. After a few more swipes at each other and some narrow misses, they came to a draw and grudgingly relented. As they trudged over to where the rest of the group, Ver shifted back to her Elven form mid stride.

She dusted her hands off and sent Umber a triumphant smirk. He grinned back at her, knowing that neither had won. Soon they all were standing in a circle at the mouth of the cave. Anaiya cast a glance behind her at the cave opening but saw no sign of the reclusive Spiritspeaker.

What an odd man.

Panting, Ver wiped a sheen of sweat off her forehead and nudged Umber. He grinned up at her. She leaned on him and fanned her face with her other hand.

"Well, get anything valuable out of that nut? Sorry for earlier in there by the way. The continuous attacks and all this mystery surrounding this artifact is wearing on me and that man was the last straw." Ver's lopsided grin made her appear her more usual foolish self.

Anaiya grinned. "No apologies needed, I know exactly what you mean. Another moment in there and I think I may have stabbed his eyes out with a fork myself."

Ver raised an eyebrow. Anaiya didn't seem the violent type. He must have really pissed her off.

"So, lets hear it." She said.

"Well," Began Anaiya carefully, trying to remember the relevant information among all the senseless babble the man had spoke.

"He said that the soul gem needed to be taken into a 'Gate of Dreams' or something." She raised her hands and made quoting motions. "Emphasis on the Gate part. And that there had to be a sacrifice, or because of a sacrifice something will happen and-"

"And let me guess, the world will be saved from certain doom and we'll all get a good night's sleep again, right?" Ver snorted her doubt.

"Although the gate thing sounds valid. Hmmm."

Anaiya resisted the urge to correct her use of 'gate'.

The older Druid rubbed her chin in thought. "I bet that's referring to the Dream Portals."

At the blank looks she received in response, Ver sighed. "Honestly, don't you all pay attention to your history? This was part of the important events of the past you know. Sheesh kids these days."

Umber patted her arm sympathetically. "Don't worry, we'll raise ours properly, and they'll get a good education." He soothed. Ver quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Ours?"

Before they could get into a debate about their supposedly potential offspring, Anaiya coughed discretely, remembering what the Spiritspeaker had said about _her_ so called future children. She _so_ wasn't wanting to be reminded of that.

"So, there's more than one Gate then? How do we know which one to go to? Does it matter which one? Maybe we just need a physical entry point into the Dream." She shrugged. "After that I'm not sure. Maybe we have to enter the Dream? Just go through the Portal? I'm not liking the sacrifice and shedding of blood part."

Ver was shaking her head before Anaiya had even finished speaking.

"No, it's impossible to physically enter the Dream. It is forbidden by Ysera for any mortal to physically enter her plane. Not to mention your soul would be severed from your body, and who knows if you'd ever find your way back again. In all of recorded history, no mortal being has ever stepped foot inside the Emerald Dream, at least not and lived to tell about it. It must mean that we just need to bring the gem to the Gate itself and perform some sort of ritual in front of it?"

She snorted. "Whatever, we can figure it out later. Come on, let's head back to Everlook. I'm starving!"

With that, Ver promptly spun around and set off through the snow heading in the direction of Everlook. Shana, who was heartily sick of trekking across the country and now deeply regretting following these morons, quickly set off after the Druid and the human Rogue. Bessany shook snow out of her mane. She glanced at Anaiya, then set off herself. Laris had already blinked himself ahead of everyone.

Although that didn't make much of a difference when he landed in a snow drift bigger than he was tall. Verfanas quickly rescued him and tucked him under her arm, much to the dismay of the gnome. Anaiya shifted her feet, realized they were freezing, and snuck a glance at Key, who was still standing beside her. He was gazing at her with an unreadable expression.

Anaiya prayed to all the Gods that he wasn't thinking of the Spiritspeaker's parting words. Noticing her watching him, Key winked at her, and walked on ahead. Anaiya crossed her arms, then hurried to catch up, not wanting to be left behind standing in front of the Spiritspeaker's 'home'.

After they had gone some distance from the cave, Umbranse the Spiritspeaker emerged from the darkness within and gazed after them, shielding his eyes from the sunlight streaming from above. His eyes, as they watched the group vanish around a mound of sparkling white snow, held mystery and wisdom beyond mortal ken.

"May the spirits walk with you Anaiya Cloudchaser, for your path will be fraught with danger, pain and grief. Let us all hope, for the sake of the continuing balance of nature, that you are strong enough to overcome what will come next."

The words were barely louder than a whisper, but seemed to carry on the breeze.

The man glanced to the left, and a smile quirked his lips. "I see you there, you silly thing. Did you bring me any tea?" And with that, all dire thoughts of the fate of the world fell from his mind, and he concentrated on getting to know the latest spirit to visit him.

* * *

Anaiya felt her muscles relax with blissful pleasure as she settled by the expansive stove inside Everlook's Inn. The Goblins who ran the place, always eager for more business, offered warm mulled cider, for a fee of course.

At this point, she didn't care, and bought the cider anyway. Beside her, Ver and Umber were sedately cuddling. Shana had disappeared into the back. Bessany had found two Tauren to sit and chat with and Laris was again studying his book of arcane gibberish.

After being cleansed, Key was happily drinking a mug of alcohol of some sort, every once in a while giving Anaiya suggestive looks. Honestly, after so long in his company, she was beginning to rather not mind his appreciation of her. It was the first of any sort of attention she'd gotten from any men. Sheltered as she had been in the Temple of the Moon, she hadn't had the opportunity to meet very many Elven men.

Thinking of the Temple reminded her of home, of her friends, and of her mother. She wondered what her mother would think of her now, sitting in Everlook's Inn surrounded by a mix of Horde and Alliance, most of them inebriated beyond any sense of self.

From unspoken agreement, they had decided to let the matter of the soul gem rest for the evening. This evening was mostly for recovering from their long journey, and to just relax and enjoy things.

Tomorrow morning Ver and Anaiya would try to analyze the Spiritspeaker's cryptic nonsense, and find where to go next. Also the next morning, Key and Shana would be leaving them. Anaiya felt a small pang of wistful regret at their loss. She had become quite used to their presence in their party. Of course she could never ask Key to stay.

That would not only be awkward and rather forward of her, but she didn't want to keep him from finding a cure to the poison that was eating away at him. Not to mention that Shana had resented every moment of the journey, had indeed resented things from the moment she'd landed in Moonglade.

Bessany had quietly and enthusiastically agreed to accompany Anaiya on the other hand, saying that the mystery around the trapped dragon, and the effect that their attempt at rescue would have on the Emerald Dream greatly interested her.

"So, ya gonna miss me?" Key asked as he settled down beside Anaiya on the bench.

Anaiya glanced at him and felt herself raising an eyebrow in a 'do you really need to ask that?' look. Then she smiled at his hurt expression.

"You never know, maybe we'll see each other again sometime." Anaiya offered softly.

She didn't know why she kept her voice low and quiet. The atmosphere seemed to require it.

Key snorted at her statement. "I highly doubt that babe. Unless you get the urge to visit Lor'themar Theron, I don't think we'll cross paths again."

"Who?" Anaiya asked.

She'd never heard of this Theron person and didn't understand what he had to do with anything. Why would she visit someone she didn't know? Key chuckled and waved a hand.

"Our so called illustrious leader. The Regent Lord of Silvermoon since Prince Kae-well anyway that's just boring Blood Elf politics. I'll miss you darlin'" He added the last as he gazed into her eyes fondly.

Anaiya was mildly curious about this Prince that Keyanomir obviously was uncomfortable talking about. Her expression softened at Key's admission.

"Silly elf, why ever would you be interested in me anyway?"

Key grinned, green eyes sparkling with humor. "Well its only your own fault you know. If you hadn't slapped me and turned down my amorous approach when first we met, I'd have forgotten all about you. But you interested me when you didn't want anything to do with me."

Anaiya didn't know if she should laugh or feel insulted.

"You mean the only reason you've been following me around like a love sick cub is because I didn't return your affections?"

She snorted again, then shook her head.

"Men!"

Her exclamation drew Ver's attention.

The older Druid stared at the two by the fire, spared a thought to how cozy they looked, spared another thought to how she might tell Anaiya's mother of her love for a member of the Horde, then lost all thought when a tongue licked her ear. With a girlish squeal, she turned back to her lover, and pulled the blanket further over both their heads.

Over on the bench, Key and Anaiya glanced at Ver and Umber, glanced at each other, then glanced at the fire. Anaiya felt her face slowly heat up.

'_Ugh, my aunt is so embarrassing.' she thought to herself with mortification._


	16. Ch 16: What Dreams May Come

A/N: I'm back with another chapter! I'm dreadfully sorry about the long wait. This time my only excuse is the story itself. For some reason I couldn't bring this chapter out of my mind in the right way that I wanted, like all the other chapters. It took a long time for the proper words to show up. But now that I've written it, I'm very pleased with it, and I hope you all will be too! I love reviews! I don't own Blizzard or WoW! And um...I dedicate this chapter to my manager at work, who came up with how to set this chapter. I had only the end result in mind, and not how to "get" to that point, and while bored at work last week I asked her out of the blue, and she suggested a dream. I really hope you enjoy and let me know what you think.

PS-To my dedicated, yet still anonymous reviewer with the questions=First off, I welcome all your questions so don't feel like your harassing me with them! :) And now to your question. You asked how can my Horde and Alliance characters communicate with each other. Well the answer is relatively simple. This isnt a game. This isnt THE game, WoW. Its a story based on the game. And lore wise, I'm pretty sure that after spending...like, what it is it? 10 thousand years? give or take a decade? On the same world together, you'd think the two factions would find a way to communicate. Take Earth for example. All of us have our own beautiful languages and dialects and way of speaking, but in most countries, English seems to be a common, easily recognized language, and most people seem to use Englis th communicate (I'm basing this on my own observations of course). So I got to figuring that I'm sure there must be some common language that is used to speak between the two. Otherwise how would be understand Goblins? Or for that matter, the members of the Earthen Ring, Cenarion Circle/Expedition/, and the Argent Dawn/Crusade who are of the opposite faction? And also, having to spend many extra chapters trying to help my characters overcome so ridiculous and silly a barrier as a communication problem seemed like it would detract from the main plot of the story.

And now...ENJOY!

* * *

Chapter 16: What Dreams May Come

Anaiya dreamed.

It was such a familiar scene, one that had only just happened before exhaustion had finally pulled the party of adventurers to their beds.

After they'd all rested from their trek to the Spiritspeaker's cave, Verfanas had gotten right to the point. They'd sat down around the fire and discussed what the next options where. Since Ver was the most knowledgeable of the group about the Emerald Dream and anything relating to that powerful plane of existence, everyone listened raptly to what she had to say.

Which wasn't good news, unfortunately. According to the older Druid, the Titans, makers of the world, had created the Emerald Dream to be a blueprint of Azeroth, an original layout that held within it all that the world would be if no intelligent life had altered its surface.

Ysera, the green Dragon Aspect, had been charged with guarding the world from the Emerald Dream and vice versa. Her flight were also given special and unique abilities to help them govern the Dream and bring peace to the land.

Thus all green dragons had what was called 'Dreamsight', which let them see both planes of existence, always giving them the look of being fast asleep most of the time. Since Ysera, all powerful Aspect though she was, could not feasibly protect the entire realm of the Dream and all the points of entry into it from the mortal plane, she had dispatched four powerful flight mates to watch over and guard the four Gates that led into the Dream.

These Gates, which were immensely large and surrounded by magical energies that bled off from the Dream's plane, were situated in strategic ley line points around the world. The locations were the Twilight Grove, found in Duskwood; in Seradane northern Hinterlands; the Dream Bough in Feralas, and in Bough Shadow, the most northeasterly point of Ashenvale.

After some discussion about distance and risk, they had agreed that the best route would be to head for the Gate in Bough Shadow, which was in Ashenvale. Ashenvale was not only on the same continent, but was also only several days journey through the mountains, although no one was happy about having to traverse back through the Timbermaw Pass.

They had touched briefly on the Spiritspeaker's heavy portents of sacrifice and blood, but since none of them could come up with a plausible theory of what to expect when they finally did arrive at the Gate, Ver waved away their concerns, saying they'd cross that bridge when they got to it.

Then, with due seriousness, Ver had laid a detailed topographical map of the upper region of Kalimdor for Anaiya to peruse. She made her niece memorize the path they would take to journey to Ashenvale, pointed out detours at certain areas, and made sure the younger Druid knew where Alliance friendly outposts were situated.

She had glanced at her niece with reluctance and worry and had said that in the case they were separated or if ever it came up that Anaiya had to travel on without any of the party, she needed to make the decision swiftly and without hesitation.

The mission to rescue Ysera's consort and find out what was wrong with the Emerald Dream came before any of them, she'd gravely stated, glancing around the table. Everyone solemnly nodded back in agreement. Anaiya's shoulders had slumped with this added burden.

During the discussion she had also noticed the two Horde members subtly pull away from the close-knit party, taking less part and staying mostly silent. With a sadness that shocked her, for she hadn't thought that the pair had made that much of an impression on her, she had realized they were planning on leaving soon, maybe even the very next morning.

After the group had finalized their plan on what the next step was, and had relaxed sufficiently, Key had indeed announced that he and Shana were grateful to the Alliance party for their unity in crossing to Winterspring, and wished them all luck in their quest.

He mentioned being needed for urgent unfinished business back in Silvermoon, and had softly brushed his fingers over the spot on his side where the curse mark was. Anaiya knew it must be hurting him, and he wanted to finish this business between him and the one who'd given it to him. So, despite feeling the surprising prickle of tears on her eyelids, she'd wished them luck.

After that, they'd all just sort of sat idly, staring at each other, or the table, or into the roaring and crackling fire, each reluctant in their own right to leave the group, hesitant about what lay ahead.

And now, Anaiya dreamed.

She dreamed what had just occurred downstairs at the table by the fire.

The scene was so surreal that she half expected to feel the heat of the flames from the roaring hearth, to hear a serving maid asking if she'd like more spiced plum juice. Startled at finding herself in such a vivid and realistic dream, she realized that some things were not as she remembered.

First, here she was seated at the edge of the group, on the end of the table, when she distinctly remembered having the others crowded on either side of her as they all leaned forward to talk.

And by turning her dream self she noticed that instead of sitting on the outskirts of their party, listening but taking part, Shana and Key were sitting at a nearby table, sipping wine and talking amongst themselves.

Anaiya frowned.

What was going on here? This didn't feel like any dream she'd remembered having. It felt real, it felt…something.

Suddenly she felt dizzy, and stood up from the table. The abrupt motion caused her to waver on her feet and she gasped quietly, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths to center herself, like she'd been taught at the Druid Enclave.

After the sudden wave of dizziness had faded, she'd opened her eyes expecting concerned looks or even maybe have Ver or Bessany hovering over her like mother hens over a helpless chick.

Instead, they continued to discuss the Gates and the soul gem, Ver pointing out certain positions on the map whenever Umber or Laris asked for clarification. No one seemed to have noticed her near fainting spell.

She frowned. Now she knew this surely must be a dream, for they wouldn't just ignore her like she was invisible. Glancing downward brought another sickening wave of dizziness, and another shock as well.

She knew for a certainty she'd gotten up from the table; by Elune, she was standing! But looking back down at the table, she saw the perfect mirror of herself sitting, deep in discussion with her aunt and the rest, holding the soul gem with protective hands and repeating certain points from her conversation with the Spiritspeaker. Anaiya made a face at her mirror image, completely disoriented.

What was going on? She didn't like this dream, not at all. Feeling uneasy and sick, she backed up. No one so much as batted an eyelash at her motion. Like a ghost, a lost soul with no direction.

But it felt so real. She was starting to feel more than slightly concerned about this. For the past days since she'd first come in contact with the gem that had brought her so far from home, she'd had this sense that she was missing something, that there was something important right in front of her, but beyond her reach.

And often after waking from long restless nights, she could say with certainty that she'd dreamed something, but for the life of her could not even recall a shred of what the dream had been about.

Since Druids were powerful Dreamers, and often walked the Emerald Dream to gather strength and learn new ways to serve the great Elune, not being able to remember even a whisp of her dreams had troubled her, but not overly so. She'd had so many things happen to her lately that not being able to remember a dream seemed the least important.

Now she felt as if she'd blatantly been ignoring a warning, and it was too late to back out of the trap now. A log in the fire fell into embers with a loud thud, followed by the hiss of sparks and the roaring of the flames as they soared higher for a brief moment.

The flames subsided, but the roaring did not. It grew ever louder. Putting her hands over her ears, Anaiya backed up hastily, and bumped into the table that Key and Shana sat at. She turned and stared at the two, knowing her eyes must be wide with confusion and rising panic_._

'_Help me!_' She screamed, but though her mouth moved, no words issued forth.

The fear bubbled up in her throat and she felt she might choke. What was going on? She stared mutely at the two Horde, who stared right back at her. Shana gave her such a desolate and pain-filled gaze that she physically flinched back from the Forsaken.

Turning her head, she pleaded at the Paladin with her silver eyes, feeling desperate and shivery, knowing something, she didn't know what, but something bad, was going to happen, and she was powerless to prevent it. Key gazed back at her, his mouth set in a determined line, eyes narrowed.

He seemed to be studying her, as if searching for something…she didn't know what but whatever he saw there made him decide. He nodded at her and stood up.

Such relief swept through her that someone not only did see her apparently ghostly form, but actually wanted to help her, that she again felt light-headed, and swayed. Shaking her head, she glanced at the other table, only to find that her doppelganger, her replica, was staring right back at her.

Her...Other self? Mirror Image? Dream Image?…she didn't know what to call it, but it's lips tugged upward into a smile, a smile so cold and malicious that a thrill of sheer terror ran down Anaiya's spine and she cried out again.

This time sound did come from her throat, a long despairing wail that sounded nothing like anything she'd ever heard before. Before she could assess this new threat in her obviously evil twin, she was swept up and set back by powerful arms and realized that Key had imposed himself between her and her evil double image.

The twin, if possible, smiled wider, this time showing white teeth.

Her beautiful silver eyes that she took such pride in, looked menacing and otherworldly on the replica, holding within them the suffering of all humanity. Instead of feeling relieved that Key had come to her aid and had placed himself between the two, her dread intensified, as well as an unidentified emotion that swelled in her chest, some sharp, incredibly painful emotion that she couldn't name.

At once, she reached out a hand of protest to catch the Paladin's attention, intending to warn him away from the evil twin thing. The dread and horror and loss crescendoed within her with soul shattering intensity, and the roaring drowned out everything else.

The last thing she saw was Key's eyes, fel green and oddly enchanting, gazing at her from eons away, filled with the same pain and horror and loss that she'd just felt.

Knowing this was important, that there was something going on here, she tried to hang on to the threads of her Nightmare, but the edges of the dream frayed and dissolved, melting away into the shadows of her mind, and her exhausted subconscious took no more note of the unusual happenstance, moving into deeper sleep.

And Anaiya dreamed.

* * *

Key tossed and turned in his sleep, his mind conjuring up confusing and disturbing images for his relaxed subconscious to watch.

Images of all the women he'd ever met flashed before his mind's eye. Anaiya came to mind, and immediately, his dreams supplied him with a vision of her beautiful self, silver eyes glowing gently.

For some reason, the moment he laid eyes on her, he felt a sense of such acute dread that it very nearly wakened him. Although his brow furrowed and he began muttering as well as fidgeting in sleep, he did not wake.

For some reason, along with dread and fear came, of all emotions. Sorrow. He nearly wept from the overload of emotion.

'_What a horrible dream.' _He thought even as he stared at Anaiya, who was still standing before him.

Then he frowned, wondering how he could think with such clarity and awareness if this was indeed a dream. But of course it was a dream, it had that dreamlike quality that most mortals were familiar with.

He tried to understand why he was feeling such an intense wave of fear and sorrow, and studied the apparition of the Night Elf. The feeling did not seem to be emanating from her. Suddenly, he heard whispers. Even as it registered that he was hearing the low sound of voices that could be heard but not understood, the voices became loud enough for him to hear.

"Pain." The voices whispered, dark and gleeful.

"Missssery. Pain. Vengeance. Blood! Mussssst have blood. Sssshe will not escape ussss"

The slithering and pervasive evil made him recoil inside himself with fear.

"It hasssss begun."

The voices cackled manically. Anaiya's apparition turned wide, alarmed eyes on him, and for an unidentifiable emotion swelled up inside him at her fright. Even if it was just a dream and this all didn't exist, he had the strongest impulse to rush to her and hold her, to protect her from that evil whispering entity.

He took a step in her direction. She immediately stepped back, keeping the same distance between them. Key glanced at her, bewildered by her reaction. Her face went blank and slack as he watched and she lifted her hands up into a position in front of her that gave off the appearance that she held something fragile and precious cupped in her hands.

"She most be protected." The Anaiya of his dream murmured in a strange, echoing tone of voice that sounded nothing like Anaiya's soft, feminine tones. For some reason, the voice also sounded vaguely familiar.

Before he could question this bizarre dream further, Anaiya smiled at him, a secretive, coy smile that looked so very out of place on her.

"The soul must be freed, there are events being played out here that you have no inkling of, mortal! You must wake up and SEE what is before you. Look!"

Now he saw that she was holding a small green gem that looked suspiciously like the dragon soul gem that Anaiya always seemed to guard so carefully in the waking world. Before he could react, she tossed the gem at him.

He frantically flailed his arms to try to catch the fragile prison, not wanting to find out what would happen if it should shatter. Before the gem could either fall to the ground or land safely in his outstretched arms, it seemed to explode outward in a shower of glittering green dust.

Key blinked rapidly, startled and dismayed. He wanted to wake up now and be away from this dream. The surroundings melted away like charcoal in the rain and around him formed a lush and green forest.

Key scowled. He didn't like the way this dream was playing out. He couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong here, but he somehow that this dream was very important, and would somehow effect the future.

In what way, he had no idea, just as he had no idea of what to make of all of this. Out of the vividly green forest stepped a figure. It was a female Night Elf, the most gorgeous creature he'd ever laid eyes on, and he stared with open mouthed awe and desire.

She was tall even for a Night Elf, tall and willowy, with strange glowing green skin. Her steps were slow and sinuous, and her close fitting silver and green armor conformed to her figure, leaving little to the imagination as she stalked towards him. From her temples curved two long and elaborate horns, draped with vines and emerald gems that sparkled in the shafts of sunlight.

Her hair was long and free, green as the truest emerald. And her eyes. Key almost lost himself in her eyes. They were all colors and none, every single facet of the rainbow sparkled in her eyes. They had such depths, such mystery and wisdom. He felt that if he just looked a little longer, looked a little deeper, he mind find that mystery, that knowledge.

"That's a very dangerous and very foolish thing to do, mortal."

Her voice, so near to him, startled him so badly that he stumbled backward and almost tripped over a tree root.

He hadn't even noticed her come to a halt right in front of him, so mesmerized by her eyes was he.

"Who are you?" He asked, once he'd gotten a hold on his wayward mind. With supreme effort, he was able to keep his eyes above the level of her chest.

_'What, I am a male after all_.' He justified to himself.

She was beautiful beyond reckoning, majestic as few beings on Azeroth were capable of. She smiled a knowing smile at him, as if reading his thoughts. "You mortals, all the same. But so interesting." her smile faded, as if she had remembered something.

"You must accompany her. You cannot leave her unprotected. I cannot see how yet, but you are crucial to her success. Lord Eranikus must be freed from the Nightmare's prison. He must be brought onto your plane, brought to Azeroth, and cleansed of the Nightmare's taint on his soul. This is more important than you can even dream of knowing."

She smirked at this late bit, as if finding it amusing that she spoke of dreaming in a dream.

He was dreaming, right? Key rubbed at his forehead, which had started to ache. The Elven woman nodded at his movement.

"The Emerald Dream has that effort on most mortals who come here. The Druid's are protected by my magic and knowledge. You, on the other hand, do not belong here in every sense. Heed my warning, Paladin. Hakkar must be stopped, and Eranikus' soul must be saved. He holds within his grasp an item that will spell victory for Azeroth over its enemies.

"My Druid, Verfanas, she has taken the right steps in traveling to one of the Emerald Portals. But it is much more than that. You must all go. You must visit all the Portals and destroy my corrupted brethren, who were sent there to guard the Portals against corruption. They have fallen to the Nightmare."

A brief expression of extreme grief and fury crossed her face, then was gone. The distant, secretive smile was back.

"Heed me well, you all must go. I know your heart, I know you will do what you must, no matter the cost, to keep Anaiya alive. I trust you with guarding her life as she makes this journey. Alas, she is so young as inexperienced though!"

The woman frowned in frustration, her rainbow eyes swirling. "I wish Elune had chosen a more…advanced champion for her cause, but perhaps she sees things that I do not. I am merely an Aspect."

Key rubbed his temples again, feeling a building pressure behind his eyes. It was becoming harder to focus on her words. The woman seemed to notice this.

"Remember Keyanomir Sunblade, your fate lies with hers, and it seems the will of Elune that you play a role in this most important venture. Now wake up, for you have been inside the Dream for too long. Wake, and remember your responsibility. Wake up!"

The last words were spoken with an entirely different voice, one raspy and bone dry, and Key felt a hand shake him.

"Wake up!" The voice insisted again, more urgently.

He blinked his eyes confusedly, seeing nothing but whorls of green on a black landscape. Finally he came fully awake and focused completely. Before him, kneeling on the floor, Shana was staring at him with a concerned expression.

In the dark, her body gave off the golden glow that was signature to a Priest dedicated in the holy art of healing. For some reason, Key knew that something important had just happened, but he couldn't remember what.

The dream. He had had a dream...about something. Right. What was it? For some reason, he couldn't seem to concentrate on anything. By the Sunwell, his head hurt!. And he kept hearing a sibilant whispering, just loud enough to be a drone of noise.

Taking a deep breath, he reached his mind out to the core of his being, where the Light flared every brightly, bringing him strength and clarity of mind. With a ritual gesture that he knew by heart, he cast a quick cleansing on himself, relieved when he felt instantly better and awake.

The strange-shaped scar on his side still throbbed dully, and had for several days now, but it was bearable. He yawned now, and glanced around. Outside the tiny latticed window, the sky was still blacker then Nightbane's wings, speckled with a net of twinkling stars.

"Key, um, are you okay?" Shana's hesitant whisper made him glance at her again. He blinked.

"Yes, why?" he asked.

"Well, you were thrashing about in your sleep, and kept muttering strange words. It was not in any language I recognized, and I know a lot."

She cocked her head to one side, which almost made Key physically ill when he caught sight of her collarbone and some deep muscle tissue. He cleared his throat as a distraction, and stood up from the bed.

Shana averted her eyes, but she needn't have. Key always went to bed in a decent set of clothing, having found all too often in his career as a Paladin that those first few moments you spend scrambling for decency could be your last.

"Shana, I'm fine. Had a nightmare is all." He shook his head again.

Nightmare? There was something important there, but the whispering started up again. Shana was giving him the concerned look again, as if wondering about his sanity. He muttered a hasty comment about being thirsty and wanting to clear his head, and bolted out of the room before she could ask what he'd dreamed about.

Every time he tried to recall what had happened during his sleep, his head felt heavy and he heard this crazy whispering. Maybe it was the toxin, assaulting him in a whole new way.

He made his way downstairs and into the common room, where the Innkeeper's apprentice, a bright eyed young female goblin, was serving a few Horde customers at one of the room's many tables. Relieved to find that the Inn stayed open all night, he seated himself, and ordered a light wine when the serving maid approached him.

He sat at the table, trying to remember anything significant about the dream. His temples seemed to throb in time with his heartbeat, and he could barely focus over the feeling.

An image of Anaiya swam to mind, and he knew his dream had something to do with her. He downed the last of his wine and stepped outside for some fresh air. Sagging with relief when the cool breeze calmed his painful headache, he took a moment to look around.

At the other end of the compound, near a small, dome shaped building, stood the apparatus that would hopefully be transporting him back to the Eastern Kingdoms tomorrow.

The gnomes and goblins all agreed that it would do as they said, and teleport him directly to Undercity. They said it did not work on Silvermoon, as the city was so steeped in arcane magic that it cancelled out whatever engineering trick that made the transporter work.

The clear worked wonders for the head ache he couldn't seem to get rid of since waking up, and he strolled over to take a look at the transporter. The goblin who'd designed it, Melchen, lounged nearby in some sort of contraption that stretched between two posts. Key stared at it, and the goblin. The denizens of Everlook were a strange bunch.

Usually after dark Silvermoon was a ghost town, with only a few drunks and other seedy characters wandering about. Blood Elves preferred the sunlight and day to the shadowy dark night. The goblin was wearing grease-smeared coveralls and seemed to be tinkering with some sort of metal contraption as he lay on whatever that cloth thing was.

Key rolled his eyes.

"Yo misteh Sunblade. Came to take a peek at the 'porter? She's almost ready, few tweaks here, fix some valves there, add up some calculations, and I'll say we're set."

Key narrowed his eyes at the goblin, who's high, reedy voice always irritated him.

"What do you mean, you need to fix things and tweak things and do calculations. I thought you said it was ready. You and your partner assured me that everything was fine and I would be transported to Undercity without having to worry about a thing."

The goblin grinned nervously. "Well, you know, transportin' people isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world. And I just wanted to make a few last minute, ah, adjustments. Don't want a repeat of what happened to Lix-er I mean, everything will be fine tomorrow, misteh Sunblade, don't you worry."

The little green monstrosity's grin widened. Key glanced back at the "'porter", feeling a renewed skepticism and reluctance. Earlier he'd been so very eager to leave, despite that meaning he'd be leaving Anaiya, who he'd grown quite…attached to.

He loathed what little of Kalimdor he'd so far, and longed to get back to civilization, where he could take a proper bath, and preen over his beautiful hair without getting sidelong looks from everyone in the room. But now, he was filled with a sense of foreboding, and he didn't know where it came from. For some reason, he had a feeling he was making a bad decision.

But he'd already paid the goblin, who had assured him all sales were final, even if he failed to survive the transportation. And what a large, outrageous sum he'd paid that greedy little midget too!

* * *

Anaiya woke with a start, for a moment completely confused. It took several deep, calming breaths and a few minutes of remembering to recall that she was in bed at the Inn of Everlook.

She had the strangest feeling that she'd been somewhere else just now. Feeling cold and unwilling to go back to sleep, she quietly sat up in bed, not wanting to wake her aunt, who was snoring softly in the bed across from hers. Thankfully she'd had the foresight to place her boots at the edge of her bed, so that when she swung her legs down and out of the covers, her feet had only moments of being exposed to the cool night air.

Although her boots weren't all that warm at the moment, having been sitting out most of the night. It was so incredibly cold in Winterspring, and despite the Inn being heated, both with the hearth fire and with a magical warmth, she swore she could feel the chill creeping in through cracks in the wall, worming its way into her bones.

Shivering, she quickly tied her warm fur cloak around her simple sleeping garment and tip toed to the door. Praying that the door didn't creak, she carefully pried it open, and breathed a sigh of relief when all remained silent.

Behind her, Verfanas muttered a curse, and something about bunnies. Anaiya raised an eyebrow in amusement. With the idea that she'd go downstairs, order a glass of warmed milk, and sit by the fire for a bit until she became sleepy again, Anaiya quietly made her way down to the common room.

Her aunt had told her earlier that the tavern was open all night, so she knew she'd be able to get a glass of milk fairly easily with the coins she had in her pack. The green soul gem pouch was tightly secured around her waist, something she didn't even remember doing apparently. It pleased and comforted her to have it so near, nonetheless.

Sure enough, the room, while not packed or busy by any means, was still catering to guests. The moment she stepped into the room she could feel an increase in temperature, and shivered again as the warmth caressed her. She walked up to the apprentice innkeeper and smiled politely.

"I'd like a glass of warm milk please."

The young woman nodded at her in an absent way and whisked herself off to fetch Anaiya's order. She came back, placed the fluted glass of milk on the counter in front of the Night Elf, and stated the price. Anaiya nodded, finding it a bit expensive but wanting the milk anyway. She reached into her pouch to pay the woman, but before she could hand over the money and take herself off to the fireplace, the woman placed a staying hand on her arm, her eyes full of curiosity.

"Your boyfriend, I saw him go outside none too long ago. Hope he ain't cheatin' on you." The woman said in a fake concerned voice, clearly wanting gossip. Anaiya pulled her arm free.

"I don't have a boyfriend, what do you mean?" She tried to sound respectful and polite.

"You know, that pretty elf boy that follows you around. Don't try to deny it, I know you two are _very _friendly toward each other."

Anaiya opened her mouth, but couldn't seem to think of something to say. Of all the inconsiderate, rude things! She realized that the woman must be speaking about Key, and she felt a small thrill of…something, knowing that someone else thought they were together.

And also awkwardness, because it wasn't true and she didn't think that the innkeeper girl would believe her even if she protested her innocence. Then she glanced through the open door, wondering why Key would be up and outside at this time of night.

It was clearly midnight, or nearly that. Maybe he couldn't sleep either. She smiled to herself. Leaving her glass of milk, and the proper change to pay for it, she headed for the door. Outside, it was not nearly as black as she'd been afraid of.

The myriad blinking, blaring, strobing, sparkling and humming machinery and gadgetry that the gnomes and goblins had strewn about the town lit up the otherwise dark night quite easily. Taking a few moments to adjust to the change of lighting, which was still quite different than the dim, fire lit room she'd just left, Anaiya glanced around.

Not readily seeing the Blood Elf, or anyone she recognized, she pulled her cloak more tightly about her, and stepped away from the Inn. A drowsy goblin that had been slouching against the Inn's wall, eyed her for a brief moment. Apparently finding her uninteresting, his eyes sagged closed again. Keeping alert and watching the shadows, Anaiya began walking down the haphazard path that meandered around, through, and over buildings.

The locals of Everlook didn't exactly inspire one to feel safe while wandering at night, after all. There was a slight breeze, heavy with the promise of fresh snowfall, teasing her hair and causing it to obscure her eyesight until she tugged her hood up to keep her hair tamed. Finally she caught sight of a profile near the gate that was unmistakably her Blood Elf's.

She paused at her musings, wondering why she'd referred to him as "hers" just then. As if feeling her eyes on him, the Paladin turned and watched as she approached. He didn't say anything, but his expression was clearly one of bafflement, no doubt wondering why on Azeroth she was out here and not sleeping in bed.

"I couldn't sleep, had the strangest dream." She said by way of greeting when she'd come up beside him. He gave her eyes a quick, searching look.

"Really? How odd, I had the same problem." He turned his attention back to the transportation device and the goblin. The small green creature was giving the both of them knowing looks, which irritated Key.

"Is this that engineering device you were talking about, Keyanomir?" Anaiya asked softly.

"Remember, you can call me Key, babe." Key injected, but Anaiya was too busy eyeing the machine to hear him properly.

To her it didn't look much like something that could teleport someone across town, let alone across continents.

"Are you sure it even works? It doesn't look all that safe or effective to me."

The goblin lost all pretense at civility and glared. He puffed out his chest with insulted pride. "You doubt my invention, my fine, tree climbing lady?" His words held a wealth of disdain, although Anaiya couldn't tell if it was aimed at her personally, which would make no sense seeing as how she'd only just met him now, or for her race in general, who never put much stock in anything engineered by the gnomes or the goblins.

The Night Elves preferred to rely on their own skill and magic to help them. Taking Anaiya's silence as agreement that she did indeed doubt his ability to craft a device that didn't explode or go horribly wrong, the goblin whirled around to face a small consol that held many small blinking lights.

A thick copper wire connected the consol to the teleportation device.

"I'll prove that it works just fine." The goblin continued in a curt tone with his back to him.

He flipped a few switches, and the blinking lights went solid green. The device made a loud whirring noise. Anaiya folded her arms. Despite her words, she was greatly curious about the machine, and wondered what it was like to get teleported by it.

She remembered the portal spell she'd crossed through that one time in Darnassus, what seemed like years ago now! It hadn't felt bad or painful and nothing had gone wrong.

She'd heard from Ver many times about the transporting machinery in, Tanaris was it? And her aunt had not mentioned it backfiring or causing harm. His adjustments with the machine finished, the goblin spun back around with a flourish.

"There, a demonstration, if you will?" He raised his scraggly eyebrow in challenge at the young Night Elf.

Anaiya chuckled nervously. "Well I don't know, I don't want to go anywhere and I don't think I should risk-"

"Nonsense," the goblin cut in reasonably. "I'll just teleport you to our other machine at the other gate there."

He pointed behind her, and Anaiya turned to see a replica of the device she was standing in front of, sitting quite innocently at the opposite end of the small street. She chewed on her lip.

It didn't seem like a bad idea, after all the goblin said it was working just fine, and he ought to know. And besides, Key was going to use it tomorrow morning so there should be no harm in her using it tonight.

Besides, she needed to learn about new things, she mused. She nodded her head.

"Okay, if you say its safe, I'll do it. Just to the other machine there."

She pointed to the other machine as well.

The goblin grinned triumphantly, and started babbling about his wonderful masterpiece and how long it took him to finally get it right. Anaiya tried not to dwell on the details of what happened when it went wrong, and finally gave her attention back to Key, who looked disapproving.

"What?" She asked him when he didn't say anything.

"I don't think this is a good idea Ana. Everyone knows how often a goblin made device goes awry. What if you get hurt? Why do you even want to do it anyway? If he says it works, it works, I don't think that testing it to prove if it does or not is the smartest way to go about this."

He glared at the goblin, who was still explaining the finer details of his work to his unheeding audience.

Anaiya stuck out her chin. His disapproval, amusingly enough, made her all that more determined to try it.

"Well you're going to use it tomorrow to get back to the Eastern Kingdoms so what's the problem? It's just a little fun. I can't sleep and I want to see how it works. After we're done, we can go back inside and sit by the fire or something." She added the last part to help appease him, although she couldn't help feeling a small kernel of doubt about it as she spoke.

What if she was just being rash? She wanted to let Key see that she liked adventure and wasn't afraid to try something risky. Why she wanted to impress him, she didn't know. But now she wasn't so sure.

It did seem awful foolish to risk herself. On the other hand, she'd feel better about Key's leaving tomorrow if she knew for a certainty that the machine worked and would actually teleport him where he wanted to go.

After all, the goblin said it would only be across town, surely that wasn't far enough of a distance to have something go _that_ wrong. Firmly telling herself that it was just a little thrill ride to satisfy her curiosity and show that using foreign technology didn't bother her, she stepped by Key, who heaved an overly loud sigh.

"Ana my dear, this is silly."

Key's feeling of dread, of something very bad happening, intensified as the goblin gave her instructions on what to do. She nodded absently and stepped up to the machine.

It was made of some metal, he'd guess at thorium, and had a small platform in the center, presumably where you would stand to get teleported. On top there was a fan that revolved slowly.

At the base, a small panel of glowing green lights indicated that everything seemed in order. Key took deep breaths and tried to calm his nerves. He didn't like this, and thought it beyond reckless for Anaiya to impulsively agree to demonstrate something created by a goblin.

He'd heard plenty of stories in Silvermoon and Undercity about the "accidents" that often occurred with the goblin's inventions.

"Anaiya…" He tried one more time, but trailed off at the determined look in her eyes.

'_Beautiful eyes.' _he mused distractedly as he gazed at her.

"Fine. But if you sense anything wrong, anything at all, get out of that thing. Got it?" He held her gaze until she nodded.

She smiled at him, before turning her attention to the goblin, who was muttering and pushing glowing green buttons.

"Gotta get the right co-ordinates and all." the small green man muttered, mostly to himself. Key stepped up behind him and watched. That's when things went wrong. In hindsight, Key knew he should have listened to his instincts that warned him something bad was going to happen, but he'd been too distracted by Anaiya's presence.

As the goblin hit the last button, and a small countdown appeared on a tiny screen in the middle, another knob on the left suddenly started flashing red. Key instantly honed in on the small flashing bulb.

"Hey, what's going on?" He asked sharply, jabbing a slender finger accusingly at the blinking light. The goblin pushed away his finger.

"Nothing, the machine is just getting a little hot's all. Keep your pants on."

As the goblin finished speaking, another light that had previously been green instantly changed to orange, and then to red, and began blinking rapidly. Key felt his pulse speed up to match the rhythm of the light.

"If nothing is wrong, why is that light blinking too?" He pointed out.

The goblin cursed, and twisted a small wheel sharply to the right. One of the blinking red lights stopped blinking, then changed to green. Both Key and the goblin simultaneously sagged in relief. The countdown on the screen had reached 10.

"Is something wrong?" Anaiya called in a somewhat concerned voice, having not had the benefit of seeing the red lights.

"I'm not sure." Key responded hesitantly, not wanting to alarm her. Another light began blinking red, and the goblin cursed again.

"I don't like this, I'm going to get her out of there." Key said, and propelled himself toward the device. The goblin looked up and paled as he saw blue electricity arcing overtop of the fan.

"I don't understand, it shouldn't be doing this. Unless…" He frowned. "Do you have something magical on you?" He demanded of Anaiya in horrified fascination, obviously more concerned for his precious machine than Anaiya's safety.

Anaiya's fingers instinctively curled around the pouch that held the soul gem, tied securely at her waist, and she paled considerably. Key grasped onto her arm, tight enough to make her gasp in pain, and made a move to yank her out of the transport machine.

Right as he touched her, the countdown reached zero, and all the lights on the consol immediately began flashing red. The goblin clutched his large, fleshy ears, and moaned.

"Oh no, this is not good, this is not good at all!"

Blue light arced from the fan on top of the machine and speared into a small antennae on the panel at the base. There was a brief flash of light, and both Elves vanished.


	17. Ch 17: What Dreams May Come Part 2

A/N: OMG, do you love me or what? Say you love me! It hasn't even been two weeks and looky another update! Squeee. :) I hope you enjoy this one, I was very excited to write it, although spilling juice all over my keyboard yesterday did not help in typing it up. Sticky keys ftw? *sigh*. Thank you very much for the...wowwtfawesome review Shingie. That was...wow. I don't think ANYONE has ever even hinted at such glowing compliments you've given me. You have yourself to thank for this speedy chapter, because I must confess I wrote half the chapter on the spot after reading it. To all of my loyal readers, I appreciate your loyalty and dedication! Thank you all so much! And Azure22, you're reviews, which I've noticed are quite often, always make me smile. :) I hope you all enjoy this one! Remember, I don't know what you think about it unless you review! Like the characters? The plot? Oh hey, I know! Why don't yall tell me your favorite character and I'll try to lengthen the chapter and include a special extended point for each of the characters that you mention!

I DONT OWN BLIZZARD OR WOW...WAAAAA!

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

**"God or Dragon Speech"**

* * *

Chapter 17: What Dreams May Come Part 1.5

"Oww."

After the initial blackness that Anaiya attributed to being transported, she had a moment of disorientation, and nearly threw up from the nausea. Traveling by way of a Goblin transportation device was not something she wanted to try again. Ever.

The first thing she became aware of was a throbbing behind her eyes. The throbbing was racing along with her pulse and it took several deep breaths before she could even think past the blood rushing away from her brain, and she had a stray thought of whether her cheeks would be cold from how quickly it seemed the blood had left her skull.

She found that her fingers were tingly, as were her toes, and she felt incredibly strange, like she'd just had an out-of-body experience.

'_When I get my hands on that Goblin…' _The thought reminded her of the last few seconds before the transport, and she vaguely remembered Keyanomir shouting something. '_Or Key, I suppose, as he insists I call him_'.

A moment of amusement at that thought. Then she frowned.

As more feeling returned to her body, she realized that she was actually lying on the ground on her stomach, when she was sure she'd been standing. Trying to remember what happened made her head hurt more.

She raised her hand to rub at her temple where the pain seemed the most concentrated, and her questing fingers encountered a sticky substance above her right eyebrow. She knew what it was, but when she slowly brought her fingers before her eyes, and her fuzzy vision finally recognized that she had blood on her fingertips, her belly filled with fear anyway.

She knew all sorts of horror stories that involved head injuries, and although she didn't think hers was that serious, she wasn't at all sure that her diagnosis would be the most accurate. Flexing her fingers brought a sigh of relief when she found that nothing appeared broken.

And then she froze. Something was lying on top of her.

She had a horrifying vision of being buried beneath the twisted metal and rubble of the transport machine, but dismissed that thought as ridiculous. The teleport had obviously worked, it had just had unexpected results, that was all.

Like feeling as if she'd been stomped on by a raid of Orcs. The thought did little to reassure her. Twisting her head as much as the weight on her back would allow, she gave a start to see a cascade of straw blonde hair running down her shoulder and spilling over the ground. Anaiya blinked, thought about this for a moment. She hoped that transport by Engineering devices didn't randomly change hair color.

Then she decided that it must be the Paladin, who for some reason, was hanging out on her back. Her aching mind took a few more seconds to actually process this, then she sucked in an alarmed breath, not in the least liking the idea of Key pinning her down.

"Hey! Get off me!" She said, rather loudly.

She winced at her own voice, which seemed rather hysterical and to echo in her ears, adding to her increasing dizziness. And the urge to throw up was growing stronger each passing minute.

'_Where was that blasted Goblin?_'

Above, and right behind her head where she couldn't see him, she heard Key mumble something about evil zombies and some town called Tranquility or something. She shoved upward with her shoulder, trying to give him the hint to get off her.

She was not at all happy with their position and intended to let him know it as soon as he got off of her. Movement from her back, and then blessedly, the weight shifted, and then rolled off her back.

Instantly she felt much better, although still slightly dizzy, and sat up. Her next, fully deep breath brought on more panic. Instead of the slightly cool, clear mountain air she'd grown accustomed to in Winterspring, she breathed in what seemed like air that was laden with an ocean full of water. She gagged, and her mind reeled with pain and sickness.

Swiftly coming to her hands and knees, she retched to the side, and then scrambled backwards away from the mess, vision spinning. And she tumbled into a giant, leafy fern. Falling back onto the ground, she blinked.

She glanced around. Nearby, Key was just getting to his feet, staggering slightly. He grimaced as he felt his shoulder, then glanced over at her. She wondered if she looked as ill as she felt, for he gave her a very concerned look. Then his eyes widened and his face lost all color as he gazed beyond her, then to either side.

"Where are we?" Anaiya demanded, also looking around.

Her surroundings defied all logic and with her mind feeling like pudding, she wasn't up to even guessing at what was going on. All around them towered the largest and thickest trees Anaiya had ever seen.

The trees were all vibrantly green, and most seemed to be covered with thick, ropey vines. This sea of green seemed never ending, disappearing into a green distance. The air was thick and hot, heavy with moisture and suppressed heat, and was incredibly stifling.

The abrupt shift from cold, windy Winterspring to hot, moist tropical forest was so overwhelming that Anaiya covered her eyes with trembling hands and shook her head. The motion made her temples start pounding with renewed vigor, and she groaned. She heard the grass rustle, and peered through her fingers to see Key studying her in between his perusal of the forest.

"That damned machine malfunctioned. I am not completely sure how it happened, since that engineering nonsense was always too boring to me, but I'd say it transported us somewhere very far from Everlook." Key kept his voice low as he spoke, eyeing the nearby undergrowth. His tension and level of alertness was putting Anaiya on edge.

"Thank you captain obvious, I didn't notice the abrupt change in topography. " Anaiya snapped irritably. Then gave him a contrite look.

She hadn't meant to sound so testy, but her headache was not improving her mood any.

"That's great. How do we get back to Everlook? Aunt Ver is going to have a meltdown when she realizes I'm gone. I need to get back there!"

But she didn't get up, feeling too sick to bother with any sort of action right now. She glared at the fern she'd crushed when she'd stumbled backward, feeling petty and miserable. She should have listened.

What was she thinking, agreeing to that crazy Goblin's suggestion? Now she was in for it. Aunt Ver would never let Anaiya out of her sight now. She sighed. Moisture was already clinging to her brow and along her spine.

After one last, careful glance around them, Key extended a palm toward Anaiya, who raised an eyebrow at the appendage.

"Come on, we can't just sit here. I'm sure the local predators have already caught our scent. We're not safe here. We need to find an outpost or a town. Hopefully where we can figure out where on Azeroth are we." He shook his hand at her for emphasis, urging her to hurry.

Anaiya hesitated, stubbornly wanting to remain right where she'd fallen until said predator came and ended her misery. But she knew that she had more to think of than just her own life and sitting around waiting for disaster seemed a bit too morbid.

After all, she'd sworn to the Cenarion Circle that she'd free Eranikus from the Nightmare and figure out was causing the corruption of the Dream. Right at this point in time though, the idea of running off to some obscure and distant land to spend the rest of her life doing easy tasks like waiting on table at an Inn seemed very alluring.

She grasped Key's hand and he pulled her effortlessly to her feet, although he did wince as the weight pulled on his shoulder, which she assumed he must have hurt in the transport. She glanced down at herself and was dismayed and instantly mortified by the fact that she was wearing her nightdress.

While it had seemed appropriate for a nighttime walk outside the Inn in Everlook, being clothed in only a thin, filmy wrap seemed rather inadequate. And transparent. She sighed. As she shook leaves and mud and who knew what else out of her nightdress, she caught Key staring at her, a smirk on his face.

'_I swear, if makes even one inappropriate comment I'll…I'll…_' She scrambled for something suitable enough for punishment.

"This heavy tropical air does wonders for your figure." Key stated, and grinned wider as his eyes swept over her body from head to toe.

Anaiya made a strangled, inarticulate noise of outrage, and launched herself at him.

Surprise at her unpredictable move worked in her favor, and they both fell to the ground for the second time in a matter of minutes.

This time, Anaiya landed on top of Key, which cushioned her fall, although the impact still jarred her aching head and she saw bright lights for a few seconds before she could get her breath back. This made her more frustrated and irritable.

The second she could see properly again, she slapped the Paladin, then beat her fists against his chest for good measure, before rolling off him to lay on her back. He rolled onto his side facing her and pillowed his head in his hand. Key shook his head, unable to wipe the stunned look off his face.

_'Wow, what a woman._' Was his first thought. Followed by _'Damn, that's the second time she's slapped me.'_

"Well, that was interesting. Let's do it again sometime. But give me warning next time, love." He grinned at her, not being able to help himself from saying it and adding certain smug arrogance to the tone. Had to keep up the image after all. He flicked hair behind his shoulder. Anaiya glared.

"You're hardly the one I'd do anything of what you're thinking of with." She snorted, climbing shakily to her feet after batting his proffered hand away. He held his hands out in front of him in a gesture of peace, and then offered her the crook of his arm, grinning madly.

She stuck her nose in the air, and stomped past him.

"Do you even know where you're going my dear?" He asked amusement thick in his voice.

Anaiya paused, more because she suddenly felt faint than because he had a point. She put a steadying hand against a nearby mossy tree.

"No I don't, but neither do you, so I think that any direction will do." She pointed upward toward the vibrant green canopy of leaves that blocked out most of the sky.

Sparing a moment to note that it was daylight here where they were, when it had been midnight back in Everlook.

"Besides, from what I can tell, this way is north. I know that the further North one goes, the colder it gets. I'm hoping that by some miracle that means Winterspring." She held up a hand to forestall his protest.

"You coming? Because I am going this way." And off she went, trying her best to make as little an impression as possible on the forest.

Key glanced behind him, where they had first landed in this hot tropical forest.

Something didn't seem right here. Well besides the obvious.

The results didn't add up.

Even if the machine had malfunctioned, it shouldn't have sent them to this random location so far from Everlook. He didn't like this. He moved quickly to keep Anaiya's shapely figure in sight.

Her long woolen cloak, which she'd taken off and hung over an arm, brushed nearby foliage, sweeping water everywhere. This was indeed a very thick tropical forest, a jungle he'd even call it.

He stopped momentarily as he followed through on that line of thought. The only obvious jungle that came to mind was Stranglethorn Vale, a notorious tropical rainforest rife with large cats and hostile Trolls. Not to mention the conniving Steamwheedle Cartel, who owned the notorious port Booty Bay in southern Stranglethorn.

Great. If that was where they really were, they were in a lot more trouble than he'd initially thought. As one part of his mind tried to work out what was bothering him about their location and how they had arrived there, another, larger part of his mind was currently occupied with watching Anaiya's back as she maneuvered around vines and trees and overly large plants.

The longer they were in the forest, the more the moisture-laden atmosphere affected their clothing, making the material damp and clingy. On Anaiya, that left little to the imagination.

But Key wasn't worried; he had a large imagination. He wondered how long the Druid's temper was going to keep her going, and felt a little moment of worry over her unsteadiness and apparent nausea earlier.

And he didn't like that gash on her forehead. If she hadn't jumped him as soon as he'd helped her up, he was going to offer to heal it, pathetic though his heals were, but she'd taken him by surprise by leaping on him like that, and unfortunately his brain had rerouted to other thoughts.

Anaiya had such a profound effect on him, a somewhat different effect than any of the other girls he'd wooed and bedded.

Anaiya herself was different, she elicited deeper emotions from him, emotions he didn't think he had, or wanted to have. Love was for sappy fools, and he'd seen many heroes die in battle because of the distraction of protecting a loved one.

And yet, he mused, he'd selflessly put himself in harm's way to protect Anaiya more than once on this trip. Not one for close inspection of feelings or reflection on his feelings, Key pushed those thoughts aside and just filled his mind with Anaiya's oh so beautiful form in front of him.

Anaiya stared mournfully ahead, monotonously placing one foot in front of the other. Trying to make any headway in this tangle of vines and leaves was like trying to swim up a waterfall.

And the heavy heat and air was not helping in any way. Before long she was panting and out of breath, and her head still ached. The area above her right eyebrow was starting to sting as sweat and moisture beaded at her hairline, and she imagined all sorts of bacteria getting into the cut. More than once she had to pause and readjust the weight of the satchel tied to her waist that held the soul gem.

Each time she touched the pouch, it seemed that the gem was searing hot, the head radiating through the cloth. Strangely, she didn't feel any additional heat against her thigh where the pouch dangled, just when her fingers touched it.

The forest seemed to continue on forever in either direction. Sometimes there would be an area where the trees and undergrowth wasn't as deep or closely set and her hopes leapt at the perceived evidence at a break in the tropical forest. But then the trees would close in again; the flora and fauna would spring up in ever increasing bunches, and they would be back to the same closed in tropical forest again.

Anaiya sent up frequent prayers and pleadings to Elune as she walked, begging for some way out of here, or anything that would help her get back to Everlook, but so far, the divine being remained silent.

She stopped for the hundredth time, out of breath, and wiped perspiration off her forehead, along with a few streaks of crimson. Hopefully the cut had stopped bleeding and that was just old blood. She turned and glanced behind her at Key.

He seemed hardly daunted by the heavy heat, and wasn't even breathing hard. She was instantly envious. The thick air had ruined what delicate hairstyle he'd done to his hair, and the silky strands now hung limply down his shoulders. She smirked at that. Men shouldn't care so much about their hair anyway.

As if hearing her thought, Key reached up and patted his hair, felt the limp and moisture laden locks, and pulled a dismayed and horrified look. Anaiya snickered loudly, then leaned on her knees to catch her breath.

"Tired already babe? Are you sure blundering off in any random direction is the wisest of ideas. How do you know if you're even still going north? Your tree village looks nothing like Stranglethorn I bet." He gestured around him to the thick, exotic vegetation.

Anaiya bristled at his words. "Okay I'll admit it, I'm a bit sheltered. But that doesn't mean that I don't know anything about the basic survival tips. Moss will always grow on the North side of a tree, so I know I'm still heading in that direction. And what else do you suggest? Eventually we will get to the end of this forest…wait you said Stranglethorn? Do you know where we are?" She exclaimed the last, trying to bridle her hope.

"I can't say for sure, but the only extensive jungle of this magnitude _that I know of _is Stranglethorn Vale. Don't look so relieved babe. Ana. If we are in Stranglethorn, we are very far away from your aunt or any civilization at all actually. This jungle is full of danger of all kinds. Keep an eye out. We'll go on a bit longer, and then rest a bit. In this heat it would not be smart to overtax ourselves."

Anaiya nodded; secretly pleased he'd called her Ana. It sounded good when he said it.

* * *

With a start, Shana sat bolt upright in bed, her heart thudding in her ribcage. This was odd, because it didn't need to beat. That only happened when she was frightened or stressed or in a heightened state of arousal. She frowned.

Despite not having eyes, she could still see. A side effect/benefit of being Undead, she supposed. Of course, she didn't quite see in the same way that breathing mortals did. The colors were more muted, the shadows more pronounced, and there was a double layer of ethereal ghostly film covering most living beings that had a finite lifespan. What this was a mortal's soul.

Of course, not many Forsaken went around mentioning that they could see other creatures' souls. Imagine how that would go over. It did help the Forsaken, and their Lady Queen, to see the potential for a new recruit inside someone.

Shana dwelled on this but a moment, focused more on why, for some reason, she felt incredibly unnerved. The room she shared with Key was pitch black, which meant it was still night. Maybe she'd had a nightmare? Those came often enough to a Forsaken that the idea seemed plausible. But for some reason she felt as if something bad had happened, or was about to happen.

Some unnamed sense of foreboding that was bearing down on her. Since she couldn't think of anything in her immediate past or future that should alarm her, it naturally came to her that this might be a warning from the Light.

Sometimes the soft healing force that guided her and helped her heal and protect her companions came through especially strong and sent her warnings or flashes of insight into a coming fight. For some reason she felt that the warning was not about herself. Mouth set in a grim line; she tossed off the blankets and swept to her feet. Boney toes clacked on the stone floor.

Chills swept up her legs. She clutched her shawl more tightly about her literally skeletal frame, and walked over to the other bed in the room. The bed that was _supposed_ to hold a sleeping Keyanomir Sunblade.

Shana blinked stupidly at the bed, which was blatantly empty of said Paladin. Where the bloody hell was he at this time of night? When she got her claws on that boy.

Wait, she remembered some vague memory. Or was it a dream? She remembered Key waking up, saying he'd had a disturbing dream. That had happened, hadn't it? For some reason, her mind felt muffled and foggy. She yawned sleepily. Whatever the case was, the Paladin wasn't in his bed, and a slow curling of unease was wending its way through her belly.

Trying to squash any feelings of worry, Shana slipped on her heavy healing raiment and left the room. After all she was Forsaken, and didn't care about the fate of mortals. Oh who was she fooling, she was quite fond of Key.

The moment she left her room, just down the hall from the room that housed the two Druids, there arose a clatter from said room. Shana paused in her steps, cocking her head curiously. A horrific vision of Key getting caught sneaking into their room flitted through her mind before she pushed it away. He wasn't that far gone on the young druid…was he?

Mournfully, Shana could very well easily imagine him trying to entice Anaiya into leaving the room with him. She winced then sighed in resignation. She headed over to the Druids' room, but before she could do anything else, the older Druid, Verfanas, stomped out of the room.

Shana backed up a few steps hastily, debating whether to dive back into her room and hope to fall back asleep.

To be honest, that druid scared her. She was unpredictable, overly protective of her young charge, and very skilled in combat. Ver, eyes blazing with fury, glared at Shana in accusation.

"You!" She shook a finger under Shana's nose.

Taken aback, Shana gaped at the Druid. She opened her mouth.

"You! Where's Anaiya. Where's that accursed playboy friend of yours? What did he do with my niece?"

"Wha-?" Was all Shana could muster, before the other woman brushed past her, glowing white eyes blazing.

Shana's hopes turned to dread. Anaiya was missing? That was bad. She knew that the young Druid and Key both not being asleep meant they were without a doubt together. Doing what, she had no idea, but sadly, she had a notion.

She knew Key had set his eye on Anaiya the second he'd seen her. Shana had hoped they'd be gone from here before anything cataclysmic happened.

'_By the Light, we are supposed to be leaving for Undercity tomorrow! I swear on the Banshee Queen's sword that when I find that fool I will smite him into his next incarnation.' _

Right on cue, Verfanas stormed back out of Shana and Key's room, where she knew the Paladin was obviously not.

"Where is he?" The Druid demanded again.

She grabbed Shana by the arm, the power of her shift forms lending her added strength. Despite her protests, The Druid dragged the hapless Priestess down the stairs.

"I'm going to castrate that conniving Elf." Ver continued to rant as they descended. Shana used her other hand to grab up the front of her robes so she didn't trod on them and miss a stair.

She could have used one of her defensive spells to "hopefully" make the Druid release her (she was a healer and not very good at provoking fights), but she didn't think now would be the wisest time to assert herself. Not when the Druid was obviously spoiling to beat someone to a pulp.

Out of nowhere, Umber fell into step with them, glancing curiously between the two women. Shana shrugged at him, not wanting to say anything when she didn't know what would help or hinder.

Verfanas jerked their makeshift entourage to a halt in front of the long counter. The young woman behind it, who had her back turned while she put away clean glasses, casually glanced behind her, no doubt making sure that she kept an eye out for guests.

The Goblin noticed them; blinked wide blue eyes, and then her distant smile grew much wider. A red gem in one ear caught the candlelight and sent red beams glittering across her nose.

"Hiya!" The woman exclaimed in an exaggeratedly cheerful voice.

Shana scowled, which she knew made her look quite scary. She hated people who laid the good cheer on thick.

"What can I do for ya? Wine? We have a discount on wine until next week. Mead? We-."

"Listen, I'm looking for my niece. Young Night Elf. Green hair?" The Druid grimaced then added, "She may be in the company of a male Blood Elf with blond hair. Have you seen her?"

The goblin blinked at them. Shana saw recognition flare in the woman's beady eyes, but she cocked her head as if in thought. "What's in it for me for this information? We do keep our clients confidential after all. Alth-"

Verfanas cut the woman off again, her expression thunderous. "You'd better tell me where she is if you want to keep that 'lovely' smile of yours."

Her threat was said low, and calmly, but the Goblin's green skin lost several shades of color, and she licked her wide lips. She wasn't smiling now.

"Okay, okay, let's not get violent here." The Goblin chuckled nervously. "Look, I'm really not supposed to discuss other people's business around here, sort of our policy, but." She added the last bit hastily as Ver reached for her notorious polearm.

"I did see the young Elfling you described. Flighty, ditzy looking thing. Was only wearing a nightdress. She came down here to get a drink. Noticed her boyfriend was outside and went after him. The pretty Elf boy with the blond hair." She added for emphasis, just in case the group didn't get which 'Elf boy'.

Verfanas scowled. Shana sent a hasty thank you to the Goblin as she was whisked outside by the Druid.

Personally she didn't see how dragging her around was going to help the Druid. She couldn't attack fellow members of the Horde after all. If anything, she'd defend him. Although she wasn't certain she should intervene if him and Anaiya were indeed up to…things.

She sent her thoughts inward and sought the warm golden Light to help calm her thoughts and remove any unwanted ones. Either trouble loved following her around, or it loved following Keyanomir around and she was just unfortunate enough to be associated with him.

The second she got back to Undercity she was going to beg Lady Sylvanas for a reassignment. Hopefully something she could do solo. Having party members to look after was something she was heartily sick of at this point.

When the two women, trailed by the Rogue, left the Inn, Shana glanced around her, envisioning two elves entwined in each other's arms in a shadowed corner. After all, she knew exactly how Key felt about the girl, and she'd seen the lingering, curious glances the Night Elf sent his way from time to time.

All three swung their heads around, eyeing every shadow extra carefully, every tucked away corner, but found nothing noteworthy. Verfanas scowled.

"Shift into your cat form Verfie love. You'll be able to pick up Ana's scent and find her easily." Umber suggested after a few minutes of fruitless looking.

Verfanas perked up at this idea, knowing that the senses of a cat were heightened far beyond the norm of a mere Elf, and nodded. She sent Umber a loving smile, before _finally _releasing Shana's arm.

Shana rubbed the spot where the Druid's fingers had gripped her, sending the woman a reproachful look. Within the blink of an eye, the tall, blue haired woman mouthed some words and instantly transformed into a large, blue-black panther.

The cat, deadly grace on four paws, swung its head around to give the Priestess a level stare, as if to say 'You better not take off.' And set its bewhiskered nose to the air, lifting its tapered head to catch a scent.

Shana crossed her arms under her breasts and slouched.

To entertain herself she pictured the Druid using a kitty litter box.

That brightened her mood considerably.

The feline sniffed at the air hesitantly. Her ears swiveled back against her skull, and she darted forward away from the Inn. Umber was a flash of movement at her side.

Shana glanced back inside the Inn, where the fire crackled cozily in the hearth and a few straggling patrons sat at tables drinking.

Then she stared off into the darkness, where far to the East, the spattering of stars gave way to a lighter shade of blue tinged with rose. She sighed, cast a spell to increase her fortitude, seeing as how she probably wasn't going to get anymore sleep this night, and trudged grouchily after the pair.

'_Just my luck, I had to get involved with a group that just _happened_ to have a Paladin who falls for an Alliance girl_.' she groused to herself.

Verfanas stopped, tail lashing. The scent was concentrated rather heavily up ahead, where her golden cat eyes perceived some sort of commotion. She frowned. It had to have something to do with Anaiya; the coincidence was just too obvious.

She padded on silent paws up to where the fiasco was taking place. Several sleepy looking Goblins were listening in bemusement to a different Goblin with goggles babble hysterically at them in their own language.

Every so often he waved his large hands wildly behind him at some sort of machine. Ver blinked at the machine, cocking her head. Where had she seen something like that before? Oh yes, Tanaris. A transportation device; the Goblins claimed that it would replace the need for a Mage's portal spell.

She stared doubtfully. It looked like a hunk of useless metal to her, all twisted and bent out of shape. In fact, it looked like it had had a malfunction. Ver's eyes widened. Just to be sure, she sniffed the air and the ground carefully around this area, wanting to keep track of Ana's scent. Yes, her niece had been in this very spot. The scent came to this spot and then-vanished.

Verfanas shook her head. That wasn't possible. No scent just up and disappears.

Unless…she needed to talk to that Goblin.

She concentrated on reversing her feline shape, and within moments was standing erect on her own two feet again. She blessed Elune's magic that let her keep her clothing when shifting, or becoming herself again would make for some very awkward situations. Once she was firmly back in her Elven form and mind, she strode forward to interrupt the gesticulating Goblin.

"Hey. Excuse me; I need to talk to you." She pointed at the one Goblin standing by the ruined shell of the transportation device. The Goblin turned, obviously irritated at being interrupted when he was busy telling his fellows of the strange happenings he'd just witnessed and how best to calculate that into the next transport device.

Because obviously that incident with the Elves was just a momentary setback and accidents happened after all. Best to just count your losses and move on. He froze when he caught sight of who had addressed him.

A tall, blue haired Night Elf wearing a tight fitting cloth sleeping garment but sporting a polearm was staring at him with hard silver eyes. At her side stood a sturdy looking human with an eye patch and hovering behind them was a Forsaken in Priest robes. The Goblin's eyes widened and his mood sank right into his overlarge shoes. As if the night couldn't get any worse.

Somehow he knew they were connected to the two Elves that had just up and disappeared into thin air moments ago. The Goblin licked his lips nervously, glanced toward his fellows as if for support, then stepped over toward the Night Elf that had addressed him.

She bent down slightly, mostly likely just to better talk to him, but he flinched anyway, not liking the way she looked at him.

"Hehe, um hi there. What can I do for ya?" He pasted on a smile for good measure, hoping beyond hope that they just wanted directions to the Auction House.

"I'm only going to say this once, so pay attention. I'm looking for my niece. Night Elf, obviously. Green hair, about this tall? She may have been in the company of a blond Blood Elf male. Seen her?" The Druid said this without any sort of preamble, apparently caring only about finding said Night Elf.

The Goblin's hopes sank even further, and he gulped, again glancing at his fellows, before reflexively glancing at what had been a wonderful invention. He still wasn't quite sure what had gone wrong. But he had a feeling that the Druid was going to blame him anyway.

"Hehe, well lady, funny thing is…um see it's not my fault see, but they were…messing around with my transportation device!"

Going with the idea, he nodded emphatically. "Ya, see they were gettin' kinda cozy like ya? And then the pretty guy, he dared the girlie to stand in the machine, and then like it did somethin' weird and then poof! They vanished."

The Goblin rubbed his hands together nervously, and then glanced again at Ver, wondering how she was taking his story.

She raised a long, elegant blue eyebrow at him. "Really now? The first part of your story aside, what do you mean they just "poofed"? She narrowed silver eyes at him in warning, daring him to lie again.

The Goblin's palms were sweating, and he wiped them on his tunic.

"Ah, well, I think. My theory is. Well, I think that some magical device the Elf maiden was carrying caused the machine to malfunction. They were supposed to be teleported to the other side of town, to a matching device by the back gate see?"

He pointed past Ver, supposedly toward the back gate. Ver didn't turn to look.

"My theory is that the machine transported them elsewhere instead, because of the gem like, not because of the machine itself." He added hastily, seeing her darkening expression.

He blinked at her.

She stared back.

"What?" He asked finally, her stare making him edgy.

"Where?" Verfanas asked, teeth gritted together.

"Where what?"

She let out a frustrated breath.

"Where are they!"

"Oh. Well, I don't know. I guess they could be anywhere."

"You guess?"

He nodded, somewhat cautiously, not liking her light tone of voice.

Swiftly she snagged his raggedy tunic and lifted him off the ground. The Goblin gasped, eyes going even wider than usual, and made ineffectual waving movements. His toes tried to find purchase on the ground.

Out of the corner of her eye, Verfanas saw the Goblin Bruisers who guarded the outpost eyeing the small group with studious interest, hands on weapons. The bruisers, strong mercenaries who had hired on to a few of the more well known Goblin Cartels, were known for their ruthlessness in dealing with troublemakers, and were rather fond of trouncing everyone involved, even those who hadn't started the fight, but were only defending themselves.

Verfanas glared in frustration at the helpless dangling Goblin she was holding, before dropping him. He yelped, but landed on his feet relatively unharmed.

The Druid leaned down and murmured in a dangerous tone, "You're very lucky that Everlook is a neutral outpost, Goblin."

She then turned and marched back toward the Inn. Stopping just outside the door, she spun and stared off into the distance, running a hand through her hair.

_'Where are you Ana? I hope you're safe. Stay where you are and I'll find you.' _

She sighed, then went back inside. She needed to find a mage to get her to Stormwind, and then find a skilled Warlock to try summoning Ana to her. Although she wasn't sure if it would work, not knowing where Anaiya was or how to get a hold of her again.

Maybe she could find Anaiya in the Dream. That would be leaving it to chance though, since she couldn't be sure if Anaiya would Dream at the same time as her, or even what part of the Dream she would be in.

Ver sighed again as she set to packing her things. After she was ready, she headed back downstairs to pay the Innkeeper and set off for Astraanar, the closest town that would have any luck of having a Mage.

As she was heading for the stairs, the Tauren, Bessany, who she had admittedly forgotten about, came rushing out of her room. The bovine girl's braids were undone and in disarray and she looked like she hadn't slept thoroughly.

"Lady Verfanas! Thank Cenarius I found you!" She rushed toward the older Druid. Ver frowned.

"What?"

"I had an awful dream. And I think it's real, because Lady Ysera was in it and told me to tell you! I dreamt that Anaiya was gone. I don't know how, but she was telepo-"

"Yes, I know." Ver interrupted her impatiently, nonetheless interested in why Ysera would send Bessany a Dream Warning about it.

"You do? So you know she's in Stranglethorn Vale on the other continent? TThat's good; Ysera must have told you too then. We need to hurry so we can save her in time, she's in grave danger. Oh, your packed already, let me go get my things. Lady Ysera said it was important that we _all _stay together. Yes, even you Laris."

She said the last as the Gnome, blinking sleepily, emerged from his room finally to inquire about the ruckus.

He blinked at her in confusion.

Then yawned.

"Okay, what's going *yawn* on guys? I had the strangest dream about evil snakes and Trolls."

Both Bessany and Laris turned to look at Ver.

She stared back at them, feeling like she'd missed the most significant piece of a puzzle.

* * *

Large feathered wings the color of fresh blood fluttered absently. A leathery tail twisted and writhed upon itself with no apparent pattern. The physical manifestation of Hakkar the Blood God, The Soul-Eater, the Lord of Darkness, The Faceless One, eagerly licked his elongated fangs with a forked tongue. The latest sacrifice had been satisfying indeed.

He felt his soul become even further entrenched in this dimension, and a surge of elation, eagerness, and lust, swept through him. He must have more souls! He must tether himself completely to this world; bring his spirit wholly into Azeroth.

The urge to devour, to destroy, to cause pain and suffering, rose up within his malignant heart, and he roared his frustrations at not able to act. The nearest worshippers flinched back, but held their place, used to his unpredictable nature by now.

A few of the closer Trolls trembled slightly, but dared not even glance at him, as such would bring death. His Dark Majesty Hakkar grinned, displaying a reptilian visage rife with serrated fangs. These Trolls were so amusing. Coming to him, begging him on bended knee to save them when the famine and war and destruction of their lands had driven them to desperation. He was but one of their many worshipped Gods, but unlike the other Elemental beings they looked up to, Hakkar was a powerful being in his own right. He had the strength to make even the Gods of Azeroth tremble.

And tremble they did, Hakkar mused, when he had answered the Gurubashi's prayers. He had called up rains and sunshine, to give them a beautiful and abundant rainforest. Little did they know what they had asked for.

They were so desperate; they did not seek to bargain or place specifications, asking only for his help and giving anything in return. So in return for the salvation of their tribe, he asked for sacrifices. He kept it the sacrifice numbers low at first, building on their fears and superstitions, making him seem reasonable and just. After all, for saving an entire tribe, did he not deserve a proper feast of thanks?

He asked only for a Troll child every second moon. Then it became more frequent as his thirst for blood, for destruction, increased. His demands terrified, and fascinated the Gurubashi. Eventually, his presence, and thirst for violence corrupted them, as he knew it would. They now willingly did his bidding, sacrificing to him whatever he asked for. And he demanded many sacrifices now.

He was soon growing powerful enough to enter this world completely. He would crush the pathetic Gods of Azeroth and bring this world to its knees. His blood thrummed with the need.

From below his dais, the highest point in the Gurubashi Empire of Zul'Gurub, a stirring arose among his worshippers. Hakkar glanced lazily in that direction. His flat, reptilian eyes did not see as well as the mortals, so he flicked a tongue at the nearest priest.

The Troll lurched to his feet, dread covering his features before he schooled them back into careful blankness. Dark blue hair set in tiny braids and covered in glass beads swung gracefully about him as he stepped forward.

"**Find out what issss the matter down there. Kill the troublemaker or bring him to me Yessss bring the annoyance. I want to be in peace while I digest my…sssssnack." **

The Troll glanced downward reflexively at the word 'snack' and tried not to show his reaction on his face to seeing his fellow priest lying in bloody torn bits at the snake god's side. He kept his true thoughts buried deep behind a mask of subservience.

The priest nodded, bowed deeply, and quickly descended the dais. Further downward, free of the ever watchful eye of his God, or at least the physical eye, since Hakkar had the power to touch the mind of every Gurubashi, the Priest pushed his way through the throng of guards and other Priests.

"What be going on 'ere then?" The blue haired priest snapped irritably.

One of the guards, who firmly held onto the arm of a black robed female troll, shook the female at him in emphasis.

"This one be wishin' to speak to the Blood God, O Favored One. We tried tellin' 'er dat he no wanting to be disturbed during…"The guard paused, then shuddered and glanced upward.

The blue haired Priest winced at the 'Favored One' comment, not wanting to be reminded of his newly elevated status. He then nodded at the guard to let the female go.

"My Lord Hakkar be already seeing this disturbance and wishes the perpetrator's presence. I hope you have good reason ta be 'ere." He added as warning to the female.

Though he served the Blood God with his entire heart (for what choice did he have? No! Don't go there), he also wished to protect his people, and he did not want to see her killed simply for irritating the Soul-Eater.


	18. Ch 18: In Which Anaiya Becomes Popular

A/N: Look I'm back finally! Sorry for the long delay, a whole bunch of things got in the way. Christmas, the new patch on WoW, real life, blah blah, excuses excuses. Oh well, its here finally! I didn't get what I wanted done with this chapter sadly. I just couldn't seem to fit it all in. Grrr. I hope everyone enjoys regardless. Don't sue me for my story, I don't own Blizzard or WoW. And forgive me for any grammatical/spelling/sentence structure errors. I wrote this while waiting for a friend to finish their instance lol. Enjoy and please let me know what you think!

"Talking"

'_Thoughts_'

"**God or Dragon speech**"

* * *

Chapter 18: In which Anaiya Becomes Very Popular

"Here is as good as any."

Anaiya stopped her slow methodical pace forward and turned to glance back at the Paladin. Key was glancing around and nodding with satisfaction. Noticing her skeptical look, he grinned.

"What, not quite the accommodations you were hoping for babe?"

Anaiya eyed the trees, vines, and tall underbrush dubiously. "Here? Why here?" She protested, long tapered eyebrows forming a point above her eyes. Key rolled his eyes.

"Because its getting dark. Because the temperature is dropping. Because we're tired. Because we need to find a place while we can still see to _find_ a safe place. Besides, aren't you Night Elf types right at home in nature?" Anaiya pursed her lips.

"Look babe, I'm sorry that this happened, but just mindlessly blundering ahead is going to get us nowhere. Resting up is the smart thing to do now, especially with it getting darker. The predators will be out looking for their next meal, and if you don't want your oh so tasty extremities being nibbled on, I suggest you heed my advice." Key said.

Ana gave him an exasperated look at the 'tasty extremities' bit, seeing as how he was staring at her chest when he said it. She sighed.

"I know, I agree with you, regretfully. It does make sense. I'm just…not used to being alone and having to make decisions. I'm not cut out for this hero stuff!" She sat herself down on a convenient fallen mossy log and ran a hand through her hair. Which made her realize that it was growing quite long again. Funny that one never thought of such mundane problems while out adventuring.

Key shifted his feet, wondering how she'd take it if he tried to comfort her. Oh what the hell. He strode over to her self imposed exile on the log and plopped down next to her. He then tentatively patted her back.

He saw her visibly stiffen and stare at him out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I just wanted to say that for an inexperienced, naive young druid with very little training, you're doing amazing." He gave her a sincere grin.

She couldn't help but smile back. Then shyly dropped her eyes to her hands. Key took his hand back and stared at a large yellow flower that happened to be growing out from under the log they were sitting on.

"Well, alright then. We'll stay here for tonight, and in the morning…I'll make pie!" Key quipped, having noticed the bright red, plump berries growing under the yellow flower. Anaiya dubiously poked a finger at one of the large berries.

"Just as long as you taste it first. If you die off, I'll know they are poisonous and will avoid eating them." Anaiya answered just as lightly.

Key chuckled. "Ouch." Then he glanced up thoughtfully. "Should we stay on the ground, or sleep in the trees I wonder?"

Anaiya shrugged helplessly. She didn't have a clue, having lived most of her life in a giant, sheltered tree city.

"I think we should sleep in the lower branches of one of the bigger trees. That way we're not high enough to get noticed by flying predators, but we're not on the ground to get picked off by lions and tigers and trolls." Key said in answer to his own question.

The sky, what little they could see of it, was getting noticeably darker by the minute. Key hopped off the log and walked a circle around it, staring up at the trees. He pointed to one particularly wide tree with several low hanging limbs.

"Ana babe? Why don't you climb up there onto that branch and stay out of sight while I hunt around for something we can eat tonight. I'm getting rather hungry and I imagine you are as well. In the middle of such a vast and bountiful tropical forest it shouldn't be too difficult to find something edible."

Anaiya's hand automatically went to rub her stomach when he mentioned food, feeling that the reminder of it did indeed bring to focus the fact that she was hungry. "Are you sure you don't need any help? I may not be the most worldly of elves, but we Night Elves are trained from birth to recognize plants and trees and animals and learn which are dangerous."

"Ana hon I think I-"

"What if you pick poisonous ivies or berries that cause cramps? Or what if you anger an elemental spirit?" Anaiya bit her lip, imagining all these horrors happening. For a young girl who'd lived most her life in a sheltered city but who had the knowledge of what was out there, it seemed overwhelming.

"Babe slow down, I'm just going-"

She interrupted him again, picking at her dress. "Or maybe you just want me to stay put because I'll just be a hindrance. I constantly get in the way and cause all manner of difficulties for my mother in Darnassus."

"Ana." She wasn't listening. Key rolled his eyes.

'_And I thought we Blood Elves were melodramatic_.'

"Anaiya!"

"I know what your going to say." She scoffed at him. "That I shouldn't be so dramatic. That I shouldn't dwell on it so much. That I'm really a valuable member of the group. All the Priestesses used to placate me in Darnassus by saying that."

'_For the love of Silvermoon_.' Key groaned inwardly. Females. They worked themselves up into a fit and then refused consolation.

He sighed, leaned forward, grabbed a hold of Anaiya's arms, and kissed her soundly on the lips. It was something he'd been wanting to do since he'd met her, and now he had a perfectly valid reason, he thought smugly. Well it was valid to him anyway. He had to get her to shut up and listen somehow.

Anaiya froze, going instantly still, whether from insult or shock he couldn't tell. Anticipating a slap, he quickly released her and stepped back, folding his arms across his broad chest and cocking a long elegant eyebrow. Her expression of dazed shock was so comical he could barely contain a chuckle.

"You-I…You just kissed me!" Anaiya finally sputtered. Key rolled his eyes again.

Her expression changed and suddenly she started crying.

"What? What's the matter now? Ana!" He stepped closer to her and she backed up hastily, sniffling. Crystalline tracks of water trailed down her smooth cheeks.

"I can't believe you kissed me! You ruined it! My very first kiss and it was…it wasn't even romantic!" She all but wailed the accusation at him. Key winced. Now that was new. Figures now he'd made it worse. He should have just told her to get in the tree and went to look for food.

"I've been dreaming of my first kiss for so long! It's every girl's dream that it will be romantic and perfect and the moment will be right and…and." She trailed off, wiping her eyes.

"Oh Maelstrom take you!" Key exclaimed. Before she could react, he darted toward her, placed his arms around her and crushed her to him, melding his lips to hers. This time he stayed that way and tried to convey all his confusing feelings for the slight elf girl into his touch. Her hands balled into fists and she visibly stiffened. But then after a few breathless seconds, she relaxed into his arms and to his surprise, responded.

After a timeless few minutes, Key reluctantly drew back and released her. Anaiya blinked dazedly, tears still fresh on her cheeks. In her silver hued eyes danced emotions he couldn't even hope to name. Then she put her hands on her hips and glared at him. He knew that look well.

"You kissed me! Again! You have some nerve you lecherous pervert! Just wait till my aunt hears about this."

Key groaned. "Oh come on babe. You liked it, admit it." A rose colored blush colored her face and she turned to face the tree, snorting.

"Hmph. I'll never give you the satisfaction of knowing whether I liked it or not." She said, nose in the air. But her response in his arms and her blush said differently. Key grinned.

"At least kissing you had the intended effect." He muttered wryly. "As I was saying, you stay in the tree and I'm going to look for some food. And possibly a cold stream." He added the last part under his breath so Anaiya wouldn't hear.

"Fine, but you better be careful." Anaiya said with her back still turned to him.

"How do you figure I'm going to get up into this tree anyway?" She added after considering the towering tree with its limbs as thick as her waist, the closest being about a foot higher then her head.

He smirked.

"You won't like that either." He said, low enough that she couldn't catch it, but she did hear him muttering and gave him a questioning look.

He found a side of the tree where the lowest branch wasn't particularly high up and seemed thick enough to support the young Elf's weight.

"C'mere hon." He gestured to her. Anaiya hesitated, wondering what he was up to, then rolled her eyes at him and walked over. "Whatever happened to 'Babe' anyway?"

He grinned unexpectedly at her.

"Well, you seemed to have an adverse reaction to that particular pet name, so I thought of another."

Before she could comment, he moved behind her, grabbed her around the waist, and hoisted her into the air. She shrieked at the sudden action, and reflexively grabbed onto the tree limb that was now in reach directly over her head. Blushing furiously, she used the momentum to scramble up onto the thick limb, and lay along its length, glaring down at the Paladin.

"A little warning would have done wonders." She snapped at him from her new perch.

"I'm sure you would have been against the idea if I'd told you, so I decided to just…give you a boost. By the way, you have very soft-"

"Don't say it!" Anaiya warned him, but she didn't feel particularly irritated at him, more embarrassed than anything. He was so different than the men back home in Darnassus, who were aloof, polite, and adhered to 'propriety'.

He made her react and feel different as well. Once she'd gotten herself comfortable and settled her cloak under her so the rough bark wasn't rubbing against her skin, Anaiya watched Key's movements below with interest, wondering what he was up to now. Key, for his part, heavily stomped on all the thick undergrowth surrounding the tree so he could see the ground better from the air.

He didn't want Anaiya to be caught by surprise by some hungry cat or other large threat. Once he'd made a circle of trampled grasses and ferns, he stopped beneath Anaiya's tree limb. This next part was hard, not because the spell was difficult or required any amount of time and effort usually, but because the poison inside him was eating away at his magic and spirit like acid at metal, sapping his mental strength and magical reserves.

He shuddered to think of what would happen when it had eaten all of his magic. Fighting past the chokehold the toxin had on his spells, he called up a consecrating spell. His intention was to consecrate the ground around the tree with his holy light so that it killed off all the local vegetation and kept the ground alight with his holy spell.

If an animal stepped onto the consecrated ground, he would feel it, and the animal would be obliged to seek him out more than Anaiya, since he was the one behind the spell. That way she'd be safer while she slept tonight. He did not want anything to happen to Anaiya. Just the thought made him nervous. The magical core within him that held all his personal mana and spells opened up in his mind's eye, and he used the familiar hand gestures to call forth consecration.

Keeping his eyes closed for concentration, he chanted the spell, and cast it forth. Anaiya's awed gasp alerted him that it had worked and he opened his eyes, relieved. For a few moments there he was afraid he would no longer be able to cast so simple an ability. The toxin was sapping him of his magical holy strength, that which made him a Paladin. He turned slightly to regard his handiwork and felt a slight twinge in his side as a reminder of his affliction.

Circling the tree in a perfect radius was a glowing pattern of soft golden light. The light weaved and interweaved, wavering on the ground and in the air. The gold light burned through the trampled brush and seared its pattern into the ground, golden lines scoring the intricate spell. Key loved that spell. It always sharpened his mind and relaxed his muscles, preparing him for a fight.

In this case there was no nearby threat, but he wanted to remain alert while Anaiya slept so he could catch anything before it attacked. Not to mention the spell always seemed to awe the ladies.

He smirked, keeping his head low to hide it from the Elf above.

Once he was satisfied that the consecration had done its job, he turned around and eyed the tree. He judged the distance from the ground to Anaiya's tree limb to be sufficient deterrent against most land based creatures.

"Now, I shouldn't be gone too long, just scouting the nearby area for anything tasty, perhaps a small animal to kill that we can have with those berries." He grinned at her horrified expression, rightly guessing she was offended by the idea of him taking the life of some 'helpless critter'. Better it than him.

"How are you going to cook it though?" She inquired. "Hmm, good question." He admitted, now remembering that they'd been whisked here in the middle of the night and therefore his campfire supplies were still back in Everlook.

"Damn, looks like meat is out. I'll think of something for later, but for now I'll just look for some mushrooms or herbs and fruit. If anything happens just yell for me, I'll stay within hearing range." Before she could come up with a suitable excuse, he'd quickly disappeared into the blur of green.

Anaiya bit her lip and glanced around. From her perch she couldn't actually see much of anything except the small cleared circle Key had created at the base of the tree. She was too low to see over the tops of the other branches and leaves of the clustered trees all around her, and too high to see under the lower level of greenery. She sighed and resigned herself to wait.

While she waited she pondered the two kisses she'd just gotten. She still wasn't sure what she was supposed to feel about it, and her mind was abuzz with different reactions. On the one hand, she was starting to feel a bit…attached to the Paladin, despite their differences.

He was flirtation and forward and took advantage of every chance he could get to make some pass at her. But he had also defended her on several different occasions. He had comforted her, had praised her. Not many had done that, especially men. To her embaressment and excitement, she found she actually liked Key's attentions. 

_'Silly!_' She scolded herself.

'_It would never work. We are too different, and what about when we are finished here? I still need to free Eranikus and Keyanomir needs to cure himself of that poison. He'll go back to Silvermoon City and I'll go back to Darnassus, and that will be that_.'

But still, she couldn't help but yearn for something different to happen. Movement below put her instantly on the alert and she stared at the rustling grasses and tall ferns apprehensively, wondering if maybe she should climb to a higher branch. Just as she was about to attempt to move, the undergrowth parted and Key stepped out of the foliage. Anaiya breathed a sigh of relief and actually found herself glad to see the Blood Elf. She grinned down at him.

For his part, Key walked up to the base of the tree and glanced up at Anaiya, feeling a sense of warmth at her smile. He held up his makeshift dinner basket, which he'd made out of a handkerchief that he'd had tucked into his pocket.

Once again he lamented the fact that he'd left his armor behind along with all of his provisions. Not that he'd been expecting to be swept off to another continent when out getting some fresh air.

'_Always expect the unexpected in Azeroth, Paladin._'

He remembered one of his teachers telling him that long ago when he had first been initiated. Once Anaiya had taken up the food he'd found, he studied the tree, looking for an easy way up to Anaiya's level.

There were a few other branches parallel to hers that he felt could be suitable to resting on. Seeing rough patches in the bark where irregularities in growth had caused little niches, he was satisfied with being able to get up the tree with little problem.

He'd take the branch next to Anaiya. Grabbing the narrow but convenient handholds in the bark, he hoisted himself carefully up the tree, making a mental note to avoid forests and/or jungles in the future if he could help it.

Trying to climb a tree is not nearly as effortless as some would make it out to be, and Key could almost feel Anaiya's amusement at his struggles in climbing. Since he knew she must be silently laughing at him, he stubbornly refused to ask for a hand up. Finally he made it to a relatively thick limb at approximately the same height as Ana's, and sat with his back against the tree's trunk.

Climbing had been more exhausting than it should have been, and he worried about the effect of the poison, and for the hundredth time cursed Dar'Khan. Anaiya shook her head fondly as she watched him struggle.

'_Probably would offend his sense of manly pride to ask for help._' She thought with wry amusement.

Now that he was close to her and she was looking directly at him, she was concerned to note that he looked exhausted and pale. She thought maybe she ought to offer to try a cleanse herself, even though she'd technically never cast one or learned the spell.

She had only Ysera's overly powerful cleansing spell at her disposal, but surely it could do some good? She said as much to Key and he thought about it for a second. "I think we should wait till morning, then you can try your dream spell thing on me. I don't rightly trust a spell like that, given to you in a dream by a dragon. Who knows what else it'll do. I feel okay for now." Anaiya frowned at him, worried about her Horde companion despite knowing he was technically the enemy.

"Really, I feel as fine as I'm going to get with my…condition. If something happens I'll tell you I promise." He gave her a grin.

He didn't look 'okay' to her. But Key's assurances had her relaxing back against the tree, confident that he'd tell her if he got worse. She opened up the small cloth bundle he'd handed her before climbing up, curious as to what he'd managed to find.

To her delight, the bundle was full of large ripe berries and edible mushrooms. The berries had enough moisture and dew on them to help slake her thirst as well. She offered some to Key, but he shook his head, feeling slightly ill from the effects of the poison on the spell he'd cast earlier.

She set the cloth on her lap and daintily nibbled at the berries, eating most. After she was finished, she tied it back up into a sack and handed it to Key, insisting that he eat some when he was hungry. Key watched the young Night Elf settle herself down lower onto the branch, pillowing her head on her arm.

She looked magnificent in the rising moonlight. Truly night was these Elves' time. He knew that he could hold out on the curse's effect till morning at least, since he didn't feel too horrible. Granted he wasn't at his best, but that could be expected based on the situation. He didn't want to risk a spell of that magnitude doing anything to Anaiya unless they had no choice.

The last time she'd cast it, she'd used up all of her own manna and had even fainted briefly. And that was with the Dragon Aspect watching over her. He didn't want to find out what would happen if she tried casting it by herself with no one to help. Off in the distance came a high keening warble. Anaiya instantly sat up and stared off into the darkness.

"Relax babe, just a female raptor wantin' a man." He grinned at her look.

The shriek came again, then was answered by a deeper warble in a different direction. The calls continued back and forth for the next few minutes, before the jungle again settled into relative silence. Every so often the swish of wings heralded a night flyer overhead, but the jungle's canopy of leaves was so thick that they couldn't spot the creature.

The night sounds, so different from what they were used to, kept both edgy and nervous. Eventually the events of the past day caught up to Anaiya and she dozed off after making sure that she was balanced evenly on the branch. She'd really hate to wake up face first on the ground with a broken arm or leg. Key stayed awake all night, keeping an eye out and watching Anaiya sleep.

Watching her gave him a sense of warmth and content inside that he found quite odd, but not unpleasant. In the early hours before dawn, the Druid began snoring, and at first he was shocked that such a sound could come from such a slight and dainty form.

Then he thought that in a way it made her more real, more her own person, rather than just a Night Elf that circumstances had thrust into his life at the moment. Of course, that wouldn't stop him from rubbing it in when the morning came and she woke.

* * *

"So let me get this straight here." Said Laris, after he'd had breakfast and was able to think clearly.

"The flirty elf boy and the shy elf maiden got hijacked by a mechanical device built by a goblin and are now apparently 'in grave danger' somewhere in the southern half of Eastern Kingdoms. Alone." The small magic caster waggled his eyebrows at the rest of the group.

Shana rolled her eyes and huffed, sitting back and folding her arms. Ver looked even more worried if possible. Silence reigned at their small table.

Then: "See that's why you should never trust a Goblin." Laris couldn't help but adding that, considering he despised the greedy little thugs. No better than mercenaries looking for their next paycheck.

Bessany gave him a hard, reproving look. "All races of Azeroth are worthy of respect and dignity. You should not insult the whole for the actions of a few." The Tauren said with dignity, wanting to defend the creatures. He ignored her and watched Verfanas, his longtime friend, wondering what she'd decide to do.

It was obvious she was determined to find her niece, which meant leaving Everlook and traveling to Stranglethorn Vale. Laris pondered this while Ver and Umber spoke to each other in low tones. Did he want to accompany his friend?

It was true he really was reluctant to go back home to Gadgetzan and get married. He felt he was a bit too young for the whole commitment thing. Shouldn't he get to go explore the world? Experience all its natural wonders? See all there was to see? He had hopes of visiting the beautiful floating city of Dalaran, and of course seeing the naaru blessed sanctuary of Shattrath.

He wanted to learn all the arcane knowledge there was available, even if it meant pushing his way into the formidable wizard's tower of Karazhan. Lost in his daydreams, Laris didn't notice the odd stares he was getting from his erstwhile compatriots as he dug in his rucksack for his trusty notebook. He'd always had a notebook from as back as he could recall.

In it he wrote down all his ideas, experiences, adventures, occasional quests, the odd items he found, and the famous people he met. Also lovingly inscribed inside were his thoughts on magic and spells.

He had a few ideas going around inside his head on how to improve travel by magic carpet, since it seemed to be such a revolutionary mode of transportation; so much better than those flashy dragons and gryphons that had to be stabled and fed and cared for. A good old fashioned magic rug, that was the spirit!

"So Laris, are you coming or do you need to head down to Tanaris?" At his name, Laris blinked and became aware of the others around him. He glanced up from his leather-bound book and blinked large round eyes at the faces giving him various exasperated looks.

"What?" He asked a bit defensively.

Was it his fault that most of the things they talked about were boring? He'd tried time and again to explain to his fellow companions the fine art of mystical ley lines and convergence lines; about magical energy and the types of focus.

Of course, no seemed to care when _he_ spoke. But Jaina forbid he drown out even one sentence of their all important conversation.

Uh oh, he was doing it again. The group was now glaring at him.

"Laris! I asked if you were coming with us? If those two really are in some sort of grave danger like Bessany says, we may need your expert magics to back us up." The older druid flung the words at him rather sharply in his opinion.

Laris absently rubbed the opened page of his notebook as he considered. He'd never been to Stranglethorn Vale, and to a gnome's inquisitive and ingenious mind, that seemed like a promising start to learning new things.

And he'd all sorts of stories about the notorious pirate town of Booty Bay. Of course on the other hand, Jemma would be heartbroken if he didn't show up sooner or later in Gadgetzan. He really did love the lady. Jemma was everything he could ever dream of in a wife, and more. She was beautiful with her wild pink pigtails and large blue eyes. She had the cutest laugh, and knew the best jokes.

She listened when he told her things, she was strong and capable, and most of all, she never gave up. Especially on him. Just thinking of Jemma put him in a better mood. But he really did want to go adventuring to Stranglethorn Vale. Hmm. Maybe he could send a letter to Jemma explaining where he went. After all who said he had to stick with Verfanas and her motley crew of mixed faction heroes.

Most of them didn't even appreciate the finer art of magic. After they all got there he could just visit a few prominent members of Booty Bay and then teleport himself home to his lady dove. Focusing back on the conversation, Laris was irritated to realize that the others had continued on talking without him.

Verfanas was explaining plans for their search once they'd arrived in the Eastern Kingdoms.

"Okay I'll go." Laris interjected as soon as there was a moment of silence between voices.

"What?" Having already moved past that part, Verfanas was now confused.

"You'll go where?" She asked, rather blankly.

Laris pouted. "You asked if I was going to Stranglethorn with you. I have decided that I'll go." He nodded to punctuate his decision.

Ver grinned, then rolled her eyes. "Finally. I was wondering if you were ever going to answer. Gods. Gnomes. Takes them half an hour to analyze every single thing, I swear."

Shana giggled. Even Bessany couldn't help but look amused.

Laris huffed.

But he put away his notebook and endeavored to pay attention to the somewhat boring conversation. Apparently they had all already agreed on a plan, which made him rather cross because he so loved a good plan and he didn't get to be involved.

Since they were a mixed group of Horde and Alliance, they were all going to take separate paths and meet up in Ratchet, the only neutral town close enough to where they needed to go to be an effective meeting place. They were all going, for various reasons.

Verfanas because Anaiya was her niece, and because the Druid council was counting on them to free Eranikus and try to find a way to end the Nightmare.

Umber because of Verfanas.

Shana was going because Key was apparently the de facto leader of the Horde's little war party on Deatholme all those many days ago; Although Laris found holes in this logic. The biggest one being that now that Key was no longer even nearby, she really did not have any obligations to help him, other than friendship and loyalty. This brought his estimation of her up quite a bit, since he'd always been under the impression that the Horde were dastardly, honor-less creatures who'd abandon their own mother if the alternative was risking their own life.

Bessany had decided to go because she said that she had felt it was her duty as a fellow Druid to help them out in cleansing the taint of the Nightmare, something that had plagued the Emerald Dream for countless years now.

And of course Laris himself wanted to go so he could experience something completely new and different. He was actually fairly excited, having a great love of discovering new and different areas of the world.

Verfanas wryly remarked to him that Stranglethorn was an area of the world best left unvisited, but Laris disregarded her comment, since Night Elves were tree loving homebodies anyway. Not long after that the party dispersed, everyone quickly heading for their chosen destinations to get everything packed and organized as quickly as possible.

The flight from Everlook to Ratchet was rather a long trip, and required several changes of fresh animals to get there so they all wanted to be ready to leave as soon as possible. Ironically enough, Laris found he was actually the first one to set off. The Druids were held up by a commotion at the rear gate where apparently several goblin civilians had been mauled by a passing yeti.

Since he could not see how he'd be useful there, Laris packed all this things and set off for the flight master as soon as he was able. His rucksack contained all manner of mechanical odds and ends he'd collected in his travels. Most of the metals were items he had plans to someday forge into some useful engineering tool. Perhaps a metal squirrel pet to entertain Jemma around the house.

Or maybe a repair robot that would help them mend clothing and armor. Of course he'd had these odd bits and pieces of metal for ages, but every time he went to actually toss them or sell them, he would pause, think of his dreams for some project, and reluctantly thrust the metal scrap back into his pack.

Thus when the human in charge of the large, somewhat aggressive Hippogryphs that ferried adventurers back and forth across Azeroth tallied up the weight of his total possessions, the number far exceeded that of a warrior in full battle armor.

The human only barely disguised his surprise at how heavy the tiny gnome and his packs were. Laris gazed up at him, white beard bristling, and insisted that all of his precious luggage needed to fly with him. The human was dubious, but since the hippogryph slated to fly Laris had agreed to haul his packs as well, the Flight Master agreed.

So off he soared over the snow covered tops of large evergreen trees and hills. He'd had to hastily tuck his ankle length robe down into his boots to avoid it flying up in his face due to wind pressure. He did not want to flash his sheep and piglet underclothing to the world at large.

To her dismay, Ver was the last one to actually take off from Everlook. Umber had even beat her too it, and the human rogue had had some trouble at the wind rider master concerning some illegal herbs (which he said had been planted in his belt pouch by some unnamed evil henchman who wanted to cause mischief. Since this could not actually be disproved, and Umber had a lot of gold coin at hand, he was finally allowed to fly out).

After the business with the yeti was taken care of, she'd quickly hurried back to the Inn to pack her things. At a loss of what to do with Anaiya's belongings, she'd tied the extra bags onto hers, hoping that it wouldn't cause too much of a problem. Then as she was leaving town, she'd seen the sign on a building tucked away behind the blacksmith's shop and had smacked her forehead.

A bank! Of course. She'd gone inside, where it was actually quite peaceful and well lit. Not many had use of a bank way out in the middle of the wilderness of Winterspring. The goblin tellers were quite happy to take the extra items off her hands, for a fee of course since the items weren't hers technically. They offered an outrageous price to transfer the items from her hands to Anaiya's personal account, but Ver finally agreed, scowling.

The less things she was carrying around the better. After thanking the bankers, she had finally left the Everlook front gate and swung around toward the hippogryph master. "Hey there sweet thing." The flight master winked at Verfanas. Used to such reactions from the male half of the Alliance, Verfanas ignored him and instead asked for a one way flight to Ratchet.

"A lot of blokes heading to Ratchet these days chicky. Important party happening there that I'm not aware of? I'm usually on the top of all the celebrity gossip you know. I get all sorts of news from heroes and cutthroats and-"

"That's a real nice story." Interrupted Ver, who, truth be told, wasn't even listening.

"But can I please purchase a hippogryph to Ratchet?" The man muttered darkly but could find no real way of denying her, since he was under contract by the leaders of the Alliance to allow all Alliance members full access to his hippogryph mounts.

"You better treat her good now." He threatened, patting the young, dappled hippogryph he'd selected as her mount. Ver again ignored him, gritting her teeth. She was a Night Elf, for Elune's sake. Hippogryphs were their mount of choice and were always treated fairly by her race.

* * *

After Zan'Kaja brought the young Troll woman before Hakkar, he knelt off to one side in his previous position, head down. Although he gave the appearance of not caring about the conversation, he listened closely, wanting to know all information he could in order to have an edge over his brethren.

Despite being a Hakkari Troll pledged to serve the Blood God, Zan'Kaja wanted nothing to do with the snake god. He would rather be at home with his family seeing his young ones grow up and worrying about nothing but his own business.

Any chance he could get that would help him break away from Hakkar's control, he'd take. Despite the futility of these thoughts, he always held out hope. Truthfully, he knew it was impossible to leave Hakkar's service once sworn to be one of his dark priests.

Hakkar had invaded his mind, had molded him into the perfect servant. Unfortunately, the female Troll spoke too low for Zan to hear properly, strain his ears though he might. He kept his face smooth, although scowled on the inside.

Finally it seemed that the young girl was finished her story. Hakkar sat back a moment, pondering this information. His exotic features twisted into a perverse grin. Before anyone could react, the bloodthirsty snake god darted forward and swallowed the hapless Troll.

Zan hissed angrily, but made no move from his kneeling position, knowing it would do no good. Once he'd finished digesting his tasty meal, Hakkar the Blood God swiveled his black eyes toward his priests, all kneeling obediently at the foot of the dais. He pondered them a moment.

"**You. Zzzzan'Kaja. Come here**." Hakkar finally spoke.

Zan carefully kept no reaction from his expression as he stood up and walked forward. He stopped directly in front of the large reptilian creature and bowed.

"**Ssssince it wasss you who brought thisss female to my attention, I delegate the tassssk to you assss well**."

The Soul Eater said aloud, and then continued in his mind.

'**The Troll hasss brought promissssing news, Favored One. The mortal who carriesssss the soul gem is clossse. In fact, sssshe is in Sssstranglethorn Vale itsself! Take a group of ssssshadowhunters and trapperssss with you and kill this upssstart who daressss defy a God! I want her dead and the ssssoulgem brought to me, isssss thissss underssstood? If you do not accomplisssssh this, your oh sssso cherissshed family sssshall ssssuffer in your ssstead.' **

The sibulant words wormed their way into Zan'Kaja's mind. Alarmed at the threat to his family, it took all of his self control not to yell something rash in return. Hakkar knew how to goad his followers.

"Yes, mah Lord Hakkar, I shall be doin' it as you wish." He stated through gritted teeth. He bowed a last time and then wheeled and descended the dais, ignoring the questioning glances of the other priests. For the safety of his mate and children he would see this mortal girl die.

The image of she who was a threat burned in his mind's eye. A fairly young Night Elf with green hair, simple robes, and a carefree expression, accompanied by a Blood Elf. Strange companion she chose for herself, but nevertheless, she would die before the day was ended, as Lord Hakkar demanded.


	19. Ch 19: Distractions and Journies

A/N: Ahhh! My apologies for being sooooooo behind on updates! It's inexcusable of me! Sorry! I had to deal with moving across the country, no internet for over a month, finding a new job and all kinds of other annoying little things that just kept getting in my way! Now that I've settled in my new place things should "hopefully" get a bit more organized and the updates should come fairly regularly. And for those of you who's reviews showed concern about my continuation of the story: Never fear, I would never abandon my story! Even if it took me years, I will complete it! :) Thank you all very much for your wonderful and heartfelt reviews, you are the ones who made me get my butt in gear and finish this chapter.

Sorry for the lack of Key/Ana in this one, it was necessary to introduce a new character as well as get Ver and co. to where they needed to be before I brought on the big drama...I couldn't fit what I had planned all into this chapter so next one will be all about Key and Ana and believe me, it's gonna be a big angsty mess! For now, enjoy this chapter and thx again for the lovely reviews!

* * *

Chapter 19: Distractions and Journies

As the large and powerful wyvern soared through the air, each strong wing beat taking her farther from Winterspring, Bessany's thoughts turned inward. It both amazed and amused her to think that such a short time ago she was training in Thunder Bluff with all the other young braves. Having come of age to take her initiation test and choose a calling, she had pleaded with her parents to let her venture on to Moonglade where she could learn how to become an experienced and full fledged healer. Being the wise and open-minded Tauren that they were, her parents had both agreed to let her travel to Moonglade with a few other aspiring young Druids.

Not often did a Tauren take their test in Moonglade. It was considered more of a tradition and ancient calling if you took your test out on the Plaines of Mulgore, completing several vision quests and testing your inner strength and potential as a Druid.

Here, the Druid would also find their specific calling, whether they preferred the peaceful arts of healing magic, the savage fury of the animal, or the balance of nature and arcane offensive spells to take your enemies down from a distance. The decision to take the initiation test in Moonglade was more of a political ideal, to help uphold trust and peace among the two races who shared the powerful magics of the Emerald Dream and Druidism.

The most experienced and well trained Druid healers were said to reside in Moonglade, and Bessany was determined to get the best training possible. After little persuasion, her parents had been won over, with promises that she would be back after she had pestered these powerful healers and take a private vision quest for her own sake, so she did not anger the Earth Mother. She had also assured her family that she would write often.

Bessany chuckled to herself. _'I seemed to have slipped up on that last part. At this point they ought to be quite worried about me. I'd better make sure I send off a letter explaining the circumstances when I land in Ratchet_.' She nodded to no one in particular, satisfied.

A moment later, _'Ratchet does have a mailbox and a courier, surely?_'

She realized that it must, for everyone knew it was a notorious for it's neutrality, so many Horde and Alliance members often met up there to discuss important inter-faction details. The wyvern was just now flying over that dreaded blighted land now known as Felwood, and Bessany couldn't help but glance down at the destruction and death of the land in this section of the world.

What a shame that such a beautiful place had been reduced to nothing more than toxic diseased land. One of her goals was to help heal Azeroth and bring Mother Earth peace through her actions. She could practically feel the earth's pain at times, as if it was crying out for aid. But there was only so much one individual as herself could do. She had hopes of joining the other powerful healing Druids in healing the land and discovering new cures and cleansings, but had realized in Moonglade that although she wanted to be of help, and was willing to learn how, most of the esteemed elders did not take her offers seriously.

They insisted she was too young and inexperienced in the ways of the world. That she needed to get out and see the big picture, that she needed to join a traveling party of companions and try her hand at healing real life breathing creatures first before she went about mucking with the earth and the Emerald Dream. At first Bessany had been hurt. Fresh from her initiation test, having passed with flying colors, she had been exhilarated, and quite proud of herself, thinking that now she was actually accomplishing her goals.

When the older Druids had turned her away from their factions and councils, she had been deeply disappointed and not a little resentful. But she had taken their advice literally. During her stay in Moonglade she had come across quite a few Night Elves as well, and one stood out to her. Anaiya her name was. For some reason, when she had laid eyes on this Anaiya for the first time, a golden earthy glow had appeared around the Night Elf and the small pouch she had been holding. And right then, Bessany knew that their fates were intertwined.

She couldn't say, even now, how she knew. It was like a strong feeling of déjà vu. Or the emotion you get after seeing your home for the first time in many moons of being away. She had nearly been undone by the strong surge of mental feelings when she'd glanced in the Night Elf's direction.

It had seemed just chance at the time. She had been at the Inn requesting lodging for a week further, having not found the teacher of restoration magic that she was looking for, and having been turned away by the Archdruids. The loud noises in the room were making her edgy and nervous. Bessany did not like crowds, having been raised in the wide open spaces of the Plaines.

One particular voice kept rising above the din, and it was that of a somewhat drunken Night Elf with blue hair, wildly waving around various small random items, and spilling a red colored liquid all over her long blue and brown robes. Bessany had glared and snorted, stamping one hoof in irritation. The nerve of some creatures, behaving like Orcs before a battle. She had thought that the Elves had more dignity than that. Upon second glance at the table with the loud-mouthed Elf, she'd noticed her companions.

In particular, the younger, green haired elfling who looked as uncomfortable and out of place as Bessany felt. That's when she'd seen the glow. Soon after, she'd had a run in with the golden-limned elf, and had found that he name was Anaiya and she was only visiting Moonglade to cheer on the other applicants for the test, and to get out of Darnassus for the first time in her life.

Anaiya and Bessany had talked for hours, sitting down by the lake. By the time night fell and Anaiya's friend had come looking for her, Bessany had come to the happy conclusion that she really enjoyed Anaiya's company. Anaiya had been just as enthusiastic, not having the prejudices of her kin against Tauren, and having never met a Horde before, she had been mostly curious about Bessany than anything else. Although, Bessany mused, Anaiya had been somewhat intimidated by the Tauren bulls that occasionally walked the village.

Bessany smiled to herself now. It seemed only yesterday she was in Moonglade talking to Anaiya. And yet it had been some time since she'd left that tranquil place. She felt very close to Anaiya, and had a powerful urge to protect her and watch over her, but the others of their small party made her feel wary, frustrated, and exasperated. That Verfanas in particular.

She doubted that Druid had a sensible bone in her body. She was far too silly to be leading an expedition as important as the quest they were on. Which led Bessany's thoughts to the actual journey itself. The facts-as she could see, since she'd often felt left out of the important parts-were that Anaiya had somehow acquired a soul container that held the soul of a powerful green dragon.

Having interacted with said dragon, Anaiya was then determined to save its soul and cleanse it of the darkness eating at it. Than the Archdruids had discovered that the dragon was actually a leader of some kind, and had made it a priority to find out more about the soul gem and how it came to be. Since Anaiya seemed to be the only one who could communicate with the dragon with any effect, the elders had reluctantly agreed that she needed to be part of whatever mission they decided to undertake involving the small green trinket.

Verfanas, being somewhat known in higher circles among the Druids, was considered just right for the job of leading a small party in search of answers. Bessany was somewhat skeptical of Ver's skill at this, but she had to admit that so far they hadn't had any major disasters. Of course from there it almost seemed like fate that they had then run into two Horde members who were also wanting to leave Moonglade by way of the Furbolg passage. So then a party had formed, uneasy and awkward at first. The Horde members had kept to themselves for the most part, even Bessany.

She wasn't even sure why she'd even asked to come, there on that road leading out of Moonglade. A small voice inside of her had prodded her onward. It had said she must go, or there would be disastrous consequences. So go she did. But the…exotic makeup of the party was rather confusing, and she had felt out of place. Anaiya of course, always greeted her happily and would talk with her as they traveled, which made it more bearable.

She had tried to steer clear of Verfanas, having mixed feelings for the tall elf woman, but Ver had made that hard, wanting to start conversation with everyone around her. She was loud, flamboyant, and obnoxiously cheerful most of the time. Bessany found herself grinning as she remembered the snowball fight in Winterspring. That had been amusing to say the least. Umber she had rarely seen, which put her on edge whenever she thought about. Tauren as a whole were mistrustful of rogues and their devious ways. Shana she had taken a liking to simply because they shared the same calling, that of healing.

They had had plenty of debates on the journey about the pros and cons of certain types of healing spells, and the effectiveness of certain auras and circles of magic. Keyanomir she didn't trust at all. Blood Elves as a whole hadn't done anything in history to inspire trust and goodwill, and this one's constant flirtatious behavior and obvious crush on Anaiya had irritated her from the beginning.

Thankfully Anaiya was either too young, or too put off by his behavior to give in to it. The newest member Laris, had indeed made her suspicious that there was something going on behind the scenes that was pulling certain people together. Bessany didn't trust things like fate and destiny, preferring the guidance and suggestions of the Earth Mother over prophecy and verse. After the various dreams the party had been besieged with, Bessany had begun suspecting she even knew who was behind this venture, but had kept quiet. When Key and Shana had announced their plans to part ways with the rest of the group, Bessany had quietly watched to see how this would play out.

And she had to admit, that while she was shocked and dismayed, she hadn't been terribly surprised when Key and Ana had disappeared together to parts unknown, with the soul gem, the very night before they were to part company. That coupled with the 'helpful' dreams they had all had about the location of the two missing elves, had led her to believe that the stint with the Goblin's teleporting machine was probably more than just a fluke accident. And now, having added a new member, Laris the mage, Bessany was feeling that she rather regretted following that concerned little voice back in Moonglade.

Right at this moment she could be back at home, snug in her bed of grass, with the woven blankets of her clan tucked around her. She would have been disappointed of course, having been turned away by the esteemed healers she had hopes of training under, but she would have picked herself back up and tried harder.

_'I'd have most likely continued traveling into the Barrens. There is always plenty of work for an able healer there. Who knows what my life would be like at this point. But no sense wondering about it I suppose, for I am here and not there.'_

She quickly ducked a tree branch as the wyvern weaved between trunks of large leafy green trees, and realized that while she'd been reflecting, they had long since left the dreaded Felwood behind and had entered the beautiful forest of Ashenvale, and were quickly nearing the border of the Barrens. Bessany allowed an ironic smile. 'And here I am, in the Barrens anyway. Imagine that,' she mused to herself.

* * *

Krom liked to think of himself as an enterprising dwarf. He loved gold and jewels (what dwarf didn't?) and really enjoyed adventures of a lucrative nature. That is not to say that he was only in the business of archeology to make money, but having a lot of loose change never harmed anyone. His free spirited nature, smart business sense, and desire to learn anything and everything about history had eventually led him around the world from his large mountain home of Ironforge. He'd been to the swarming sands of Silithus and the tropical heat of Stranglethorn Vale.

He'd even been to Mount Hyjal, although that trip nearly cost him his life. Of all the places he'd ever been, Krom could honestly say he liked the Barrens the most. Of course it was not always called the Barrens, but the original name, given to the dusty plains long ago by the Tauren, had long since been lost. Many things had been lost over the years since the war with the Burning Legion long ago.

"Hey Krom, ya daydreamin' there lad?" Krom started out of his reverie and turned to give the owner of the voice a sour look. The other, a dwarf named Baldrun Cliffbeard, grinned through his thick orange beard and handed Krom a small item.

"I found it in the pit boss," He explained as Krom inspected the item curiously.

The "pit" was what his archeology crew of the week had taken to calling the dig site that they had uncovered by a small oasis protected by a few low laying hills. So far they hadn't uncovered much more than a few animal bones and some fossilized plant life. Nothing too exciting since it was all rather newer material. He'd been hoping for something really old to prove a theory of his about the evolution of the Tauren.

The Tauren and the Orcs were by far the most fascinating creatures to study, and he was always eagerly on the lookout for anything interesting involving one or the other. Now as he inspected the small item, an ancient looking bone, he felt his heart speed up with excitement. Outwardly he remained calm, always preferring to appear unsurprised about things, and stroked his beard in thought. Baldrun crossed his short arms impatiently.

"Well? Is it anythin' worth keepin' boss?"

Krom grunted, too immersed in studying the delicate fossil. To all appearances it looked like the leg bone of a clefthoof calf or similar creature. Except, if one was experienced at studying fossils, one would notice the difference. The bone structure was rather elongated and suggested an upright animal rather then one that walked on all fours. Finally Krom nodded at Baldrun, beaming happily.

"Indeed laddie, I think we found something promisin' here." He walked back up the steep incline out of the pit to where the tents were pitched. The glaring hot sun, almost directly overhead, brought sweat to his brow as he climbed and he was huffing when he reached the top.

_'Should lay off the sweets._' Krom thought to himself with amusement as he walked under the tent's awning.

Instantly he felt much better in the shade provided by the awning, and quickly set out a few soft cloths, some tools, and various brushes on the table. Knowing that he liked to investigate a new find by himself first before welcoming the others in on it, the rest of his dig team kept their distance despite their curiosity. Carefully, with a fine-haired brush, he cleaned off the bone, hoping he'd actually found something of promise.

It took over two hours, but he was satisfied when he cleaned away the last bit of detriment and ancient debris. The bone was actually in good shape, which made him even happier. And it did indeed look very old. Excitedly he called Baldrun back up to the tent and the orange haired dwarf stumped his way up the incline after giving direction to one of his colleagues.

"Ya boss?" He asked, eyeing the cleaned bone on the table. It was only a small segment, barely higher then the ankle. Krom gestured to the fossil and grinned through his beard.

"I want everyone focused on the location where you found this fossil. Anything you find, treat with the utmost care! Make sure all recovered specimens are cleaned, dated, and labeled. You know how to pack the fossils away properly dontcha lad? Good good."

Krom began carefully placing a few tools for determining the age of a fossil in his pack as well as measuring rods and some dyes. Baldrun watched him, puzzled.

Finally he scratched his rather large nose and asked, "Where ya goin' boss?"

Krom sighed as he carefully placed the tiny bone inside the pack, wrapped in specially treated cloth.

"Headin' in to Ratchet for a bit to get this authenticated by that Tauren elder there. She's been a big help so far in identifyin' pieces so I wanna ask her about it. I'll be gone a couple a days at the most." He straightened from his task and stretched, rubbing his lower back.

Baldrun blinked at him than shrugged. "Okay boss, you're the boss. Have a safe trip." After giving further instructions to his archeology assistants, and his young apprentice, who he secretly thought was hopeless, Krom gathered up the reins of his gray ram and headed off down the dusty road for the port town of Ratchet.

Just as he entered the town's outskirts he spied some incoming gryphon riders. Three to be exact. All within moments of each other. That was rather unusual. True Ratchet was a central town as far as neutral territories went, but most Alliance preferred to take routes that led to Darnassus to avoid running into any Horde who frequented Ratchet, seeing as how the town was so close to two of their major cities.

On the heels of the three gryphons flew two wyvverns, each bearing a member of the Horde. Krom blinked in surprise, letting his hold on the reins slacken as he watched the flying creatures circle Ratchet for a chance to land. Curiousity flared up and he almost changed course. But he remembered that he had a potential important find to show to his contact here and he must not lose focus now that he'd finally come so close.

The funding from the Explorer's League only went so far without plausible results after all. So reluctantly he turned his ram for the small, wooden building set into the hill that overlooked the questionable harbor. Right above the little shanty he was visiting rested the sprawling Inn. He quite liked Ratchet's Inn. And the serving girls it boasted of course.

The last thought brought a grin to his bearded face and he scratched his large nose, wondering if he'd have time to stop in and pay the girls a visit before setting back out to the dig site. Quickly he dismounted in front of the building, loosely looping the reins of his mount over a wooden post outside. He trusted Fossil to stay where he'd been left. He carefully took the wrapped bundle of old bones out of his saddlebags and was just about to head into the building when shouting over by the docks drew his ponderous eyes.

Ever the curious one, especially when it came to a potential fight, he paused and glanced over his shoulder. To his surprise he saw what looked to be a small number of Horde and Alliance getting into an argument. After a few brief moments of staring he surmised that the Horde and Alliance members were actually standing side by side and were arguing, as a unit, with the goblin dock masters.

One of the Alliance, a tall good looking elf lass with long bluish hair, had her hands on her hips as she scowled down at the little green creatures. The goblins, on the other hand, looked sour and irritated and kept shaking their heads, clearly not budging on their stance. The elf woman unsheathed a wicked looking polearm and Krom couldn't help his gleeful expression. He hated goblins. Greedy little gold diggers. Always getting into mischief and causing all manner of troubles. Much like termites, actually.

Unfortunately before the elf lass had a chance to wield her formidable weapon, a young looking human with an eye patch swiftly stepped in front of her and said something, rubbing her arms. One of the Horde, a Forsaken it looked like, let out a dry chuckle that, distant though the sound was, raised the hairs on Krom's arms. He loathed those filthy Undead.

Against his better judgment, Krom packed the fossils back into his saddlebags and stumped his way closer to the commotion, wanting to hear what was going on. His mount made a snorting sound and tossed his horned head, as if to say he was going to regret that decision. Probably. Krom never could keep his own nose out of business that didn't concern him. That's how he was always able to find the best deals for his archeology finds after all. Of course some went back to the Explorer's League for historical study and display at the library in Ironforge.

But the most of what he discovered usually went to those who could afford his outrageous prices for ancient and rare artifacts. As he moved closer he could finally make out some of the words. He also noticed that quite a few of the townsfolk were also curiously wandering over. Likely they didn't get much action here at the port. Normally the only ones who visited were the occasional Horde member and rarely, the Alliance that needed to use the port for quick transitions from one continent to the other if they didn't have any magic.

"I don't care about your petty problems and excuses! Find me one now or you'll find yourselves hanging off the end of the dock for the fishes!"

That was the elf woman, her voice melodic and sensual as all night elf voices were.

Krom stopped a short distance from the spectacle, content to watch but not become involved. The lead goblin said something in it's reedy little voice that Krom, strain though he might, couldn't catch. The elf lass snarled in response, sounding like a caged tigress. Before she could do anything else, a Tauren that apparently was part of the group as well stepped forward timidly and made a half curtsy to the goblins, who eyed her with suspicious amusement.

"When is the earliest ship scheduled to arrive here than?" the bovine lady asked in a soft, awkward tone, blushing as she spoke. Krom got the impression that she didn't often speak up or out of turn. It made her look endearing and delicate despite her race. The Tauren woman clutched her robes as the elf woman glared at her.

"Come off it Ver, the lady was just trying to help the situation." At first Krom couldn't see who spoke. Finally he spotted him, a tiny little Gnome, even smaller than he was. In his opinion, Gnomes were almost as bad as Goblins were. He couldn't wait till they finally retook their precious Gnomeregon back and got the hell out of Ironforge.

The elf woman, who Krom took to be the leader of that eclectic little group of mixed races, shook her head stubbornly and crossed her arms.

"No. We leave today. We need to get to them before…_He_ finds them! Every hour they are left vulnerable there is one hour too many. We need to leave now. Goblin, find us a ship." She waved at the Goblin imperiously and the Goblin glared at her, displaying yellowed teeth.

"I were tellin' ya long ears, pay attention! There ain't no boat comin' here today! It ain't in the schedule. Theys always arrive on schedule and the next one comin' in is tomorra mornin'. If that don't suit ya, well it ain't my problem." The Goblin spat to the side to emphasis his point.

Quick as a flash, the elf woman had him by the shirt front and was holding him off the ground in front of her. Her eyes glowed brighter and she growled menacingly at him. The Goblin turned a paler green and kicked his legs in a futile attempt to reach the ground. Since the rest of the group didn't react to this show of violence, Krom had to assume it was something that the elven woman did quite often when she was angry.

"Watch yourself little green toad. I'm not in the best of moods right now." Said the woman, glaring at the Goblin with deadly intent. The other goblins clamored behind her, demanding that their superior be put down and threatening to call the Ratchet bruisers. Krom mulled over the predicament, drawn into it despite himself. It seemed that the elf's party needed a ship quite desperately.

What for, he didn't know. They apparently needed to get somewhere in a hurry and seeing as how they were at the Ratchet port, and there were Horde members with them, it was probably Booty Bay they were headed. Krom rubbed at his beard absently. As it happened, he did have a ship at his disposal. It was resting at anchor a ways out, down the coast from Ratchet.

He had of course, obtained permission to rest the ship there and not at the harbor. There really wasn't room for more than one ocean-going vessel at the port anyway. He'd sailed here on his ship, the _Golden Fossil_, from Menethil Harbor in his search of historical and cultural artifacts. It had been commissioned for him by the Explorer's League for archeological research and study but…he pondered a while as he watched the spectacle.

He wondered how much a ship was worth to them. By their expressions, he'd say quite a lot. And he was planning on setting up a few dig sites in Stranglethorn Vale. Just not for quite some months of course. Although he didn't think his crew would be keen on the idea of haring off to Booty Bay just to drop off a group of loud mouthed strangers.

Maybe he could appoint a temporary crew leader while he was away. It shouldn't take more than a fortnight to reach Booty Bay and return if the seas were calm. Krom always did like adventure, and something inside told him that if he hooked up with this group of travelers, he'd see the biggest adventure of his lifetime.

'_And save the world._' He frowned. Where'd that thought come from? That was odd. But helpeing them seemed like the right thing to do and Krom always did like helping out lovely damsels in distress. Mostly because they were oh so grateful afterward. Well he was a dwarf after all. He liked the ladies just as much as he liked the ale.

He shook off any lingering doubts, feeling that he had to do this, and stepped forward until he was standing right beside the mixed party. The Gnome turned and gave him a curious look. Krom stared right back, daring the little heathen to say anything, than snorted.

"If'n ye excuse me lass, I have a propositon te make te ye." Krom said in a gruff voice, waiting till there was a lull in the shouting to be heard. Abruptly the elf woman turned around, polearm at the ready. Seeing just a dwarf grinning at her, she relaxed and sheathed the weapon. Expression turning curious and hopeful, she nodded. "Go on master dwarf."

Krom grinned wider. He liked that form of address, yes he did. Especially by a fine lookin' elf lass. And there was no mistakin' her beauty while he was now close enough to observe it. She was quite the compliments to her kind, yes she was. Of course, that Tauren there was pretty cute in her own way too.

The others had also trained their eyes on him with various expressions. The goblins gave him a sour look and muttered to themselves. Seeing that the elf was preoccupied, they quickly dispersed down the dock, sick of dealing with her volatile temper and stubborn attitude. Krom rubbed his hands together, sure he was in for a fair amount of gold from this.

He knew they'd accept. After all they had no choice; the fate of many rested on their decision. Krom blinked. There it went again. Thoughts that weren't his. Something inside was nudging him to join their party. As if it was meant to be. But that was foolish. Krom didn't believe in prophecies and superstitious tripe. He was a dwarf for hammer's sake! Pushing aside the whirlwind of thoughts, he phrased his words carefully.

"I couldn't help but te overhear yer, eh, conversation. Yer lookin' fer a ship aye?" The elf woman exchanged glances with the one-eyed human, who shrugged.

"Yes." The elf replied, now looking quite eager and hopeful. "Do you have one or know of one we can hire? It is of the utmost importance that we reunite with our comrades in Stranglethorn Vale. If you have a ship at your disposal we will gladly reward you handsomely for its use."

Aha, that's what Krom was hoping for. He endeavored to appear nonchalant and nodded thoughtfully.

"I have a ship lass. She's not the best vessel on the waters, but she'll get ye to where ye need to go in one piece. Which is more than what I c'n say for them green skinned devils." He glanced behind her at the Goblins, who had gone back to their dock duties, relieved that the dwarf had apparently solved their problem.

"It won't be cheap though, I c'n say that much. It's an Ironforge vessel, commissioned for a specific use. If'n we venture off course it'll cost ye. But I'd be glad ter take ye to Booty Bay, that I would." He inclined his head in a respectful fashion as he finished speaking to show her he was sincere.

The elf woman pursed her lovely lips and glanced downward, frowning.

"How much?" It wasn't the elf that asked the blunt question, but the Forsaken woman behind her.

The Undead's gleaming lantern-like eyes made the dwarf startle with disgust. Undetered by his response-likely used to it-the Undead waited patiently, unblinking eyes fixated on his. Krom looked away, feeling queasy. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. After all, what a mad venture. To just up and leave all he'd been working and striving for just to ferry a group of tempermental individuals across the strait to the other continent.

It seemed rather outrageous. The more he dwelled on it, the more his doubts grew. What was he thinking? Was he even thinking? He couldn't just up and leave everything behind like that! What would his crew think. What would the League think! They wouldn't want to trust him again if they found out he'd abandoned his duties and research for some strangers he met in Ratchet. Why had he gotten involved anyway?

He could see no fathomable reason for involving himself in their mess. Only a strange, un-named feeling inside that told him he needed to help them. That they needed him and if he didn't go along than their quest would fail and the consequences would be far more than he'd ever dream of. He didn't know where those grim thoughts were coming from.

He didn't much believe in the gods or higher magic and destiny, but it seemed that _something_ was at work here. Unless it was one of the party members themselves. Cautiously he eyed each one of them, especially the Forsaken and the Gnome, who were obvious spell casters. They didn't seem to be secretly casting or holding some spell. Hmph. Krom heaved a gusty sigh and glanced back up at the elf. Seeing his wavering look, she quickly dipped into her pouch and took out a bulging violet colored pouch. The human beside her started to protest but she silenced him with a look.

"Here is everything I've saved over the past decade. If it isn't enough, the Cenarion Circle will cover the rest."

"They will?" The human muttered with skeptical surprise.

Krom couldn't keep his bushy eyebrows from going up in greedy awe as he took the pouch and peered inside. It was brimming to the top with large, heavy gold coins. It was more than even the Explorer's League had granted him for his research. By Thaurassin he could buy his own crew with this! Purchase his own supplies and equipment. He could set out to wherever he wanted to set up a dig site. His eyes veritably gleamed with pleasure as he thought about it.

The elf frowned at him, no doubt wondering if the price was acceptable. For this amount he'd gladly accompany her on the rest of her journey. He froze as he thought that. He would? Should he? He eyed the group as a whole. There seemed to be something else going on here, something other then obvious. There had to be a reason that they needed to get to Booty Bay immediately.

Surely their comrades could wait until the morning to greet them? Nevertheless, that was quite a big pile of gold coins. Cinching the drawstrings closed, Krom made up his mind at last and nodded.

"This is an adequate amount fer the voyage. If'n ya wait here I'll go signal me ship and settle a few of me own accounts here 'afore we set off." The elf's face lit up with relief and Krom was at once afraid she was going to hug him. He hated closeness and sappy hugging. Instead she whirled around and threw her arms around her human companion. She than proceeded to give him a good long kiss. Shuffling uncomfortably, Krom watched for a few seconds. When it seemed the two were going to be at it a while, he rolled his eyes.

"Don't go nowhere now. I'll be back within the hour I hope." He said. The elf, without breaking the kiss with the human, waved her hand at him to show she'd heard. Krom snorted. Elves.

* * *

Growing distinctly awkward with Ver's blatant display of affection in public, Bessany glanced away, trying to look at anything but the romancing couple.

"Excuse me! Hey, get a room already, no one wants to see that. Lady's arrows, that's disgusting." Shana's disgusted remark caused Ver and Umber to part and both glared at her.

"If you don't like it, don't watch." Said Ver snidely. She turned and gave Umber a star-struck look. The human blushed and raked a hand through his black hair. Shana snorted.

"We should go sit at the Inn while we wait for the dwarf." Bessany suggested softly. She didn't like all the stares they were receiving from Ratchet's nosey citizens, most of them goblins. Despite knowing that many goblins worked for the Horde, manning their zeppelins and ships, she didn't trust the little green creatures. And that was besides the fact that they loved gossip.

She was sure that their little shouting match and display was going to be all over the Barrens before too long. She shook her mane in irritation. Overhead, the sun beat down mercilessly, a bright yellow ball of heat. Praying to the Earthmother for rain in the parched plains of the Barrens, Bessany made her way over to the Inn. The others automatically followed her.

The Inn was perched on a bluff overlooking the docks. It had an open front and quite simple in design. There was a wooden railing out front for mounts and a canvas overhang for shade. Two wooden chairs were sitting under the awning. Two goblins were lounging out front. Upon seeing them approach, one of the goblins stood up straighter and grinned.

"Hello there lovelies! Name's Zizzek! Would you be interested in my wares? I got all manner of delightful seafood available. Catfish, Smallfish, Albacore, Frenzy, Sagefish! You name it, I gots it." The little creature eagerly thrust out flayed parts of fish and even fish heads as they walked by.

Bessany couldn't help wrinkling her nose up with disgust. The smell was atrocious. True, Ratchet as a whole smelled bad. Seaweed, fish, saltwater. That was to be expected; it was a port town after all. But the smell here by the fish merchant was much worse. She wondered how fresh his wares even were. The other goblin gave them no more than a cursory once over.

At his feet rested a large white wolf and behind him in a kennel a golden lion paced restlessly. Bessany stared at the large powerful beasts as she ducked under the awning. She remembered when she was much younger, just a small calf, when there had been a fair in her small village. Various animal trainers had come into the village seeking anyone with the potential to be hunters or rangers to help them with their animal companions. They had taken considerable interest in her. She supposed that if she hadn't had the upbringing she did, surrounded as she was by druids, she probably would have found her calling as a hunter. Bessany loved animals of all kinds. Finally she passed into the interior of the Inn itself and the beasts left her view.

Instantly the coolness of the shade washed over her furred form, leaving her feeling more relaxed than she'd felt in hours. She hadn't realized how overheated she'd been out there in the sun until she'd come into the relative coolness of the Inn. Inside the Inn, the setup was fairly simple and similar to any other Inn. Nautical maps and portraits covered the walls, as well as a few stuffed sea life.

The bar was made of some type of flotsam wood. The Innkeeper and serving ladies were all predictable goblins, but they were friendly and good natured, until the dock workers. The party settled at a table against the far wall. Ver always preferred to have her back to a wall, just in case. Bessany leaned her staff up against her chair and settled herself down gingerly, unsure how much weight the chair had been made to bear.

To her relief it seemed sturdy enough to hold her and she settled down with a contented sigh. Her tail curled around into her lap to avoid being stepped on by passing serving girls and she crossed her hooves under her chair. Now that she was seated and out of the boiling hot sun, she felt just a bit hungry. She hadn't had anything since early that morning before setting off from Everlook so she wasn't surprised she was craving something.

When the serving girl came over to offer them drinks, she quietly asked for a bowl of soup and a cup of elderberry wine. Ver, predictably, wanted a mug of ale. Umber convinced her it wouldn't be a good idea to get tipsy before an ocean voyage and the elf reluctantly ordered spiced mead instead. Laris conjured his own cold water which he drank happily and Shana declined to drink anything. The table was quiet as everyone relaxed and enjoyed the shade. Finally, Shana sat forward and fixed Ver with a steady look.

"How do you know you can trust that dwarf? You didn't even ask his name. You were so desperate to get your hands on that soul gem again that you didn't even consider that he would just run off with the gold." The Undead hissed accusingly. Bessany was a bit surprised that Shana was brave enough to stand up to the more experienced druid. Ver raised an overly long eyebrow at the Forsaken as she sipped her mead.

"Unlike you Horde, I trust in the helpfulness of others and I know that the dwarf will indeed help us." She shrugged carelessly. "Besides, the gold is spelled. If he gets too far away with it, it'll just magically appear back in my backpack anyway." She grinned in a predatory fashion and Shana glared, muttering curses in Gutterspeak.

Truth be told, Ver was a mite worried about that. She didn't know what had made her hand over such a large sum of gold to a veritable stranger. But something told her it was right. She had a sneaking suspicion that Ysera was sticking her paw in their business a bit more than she thought.

How she felt about that, Ver couldn't say. On the one hand, to have the backing of a dragon, especially one as powerful as Ysera, made her feel confident that they would succeed in their quest. But on the other hand, the fact that Ysera herself seemed to be getting involved hinted at something a bit more sinister and serious than freeing one trapped dragon from imprisonment.

There must be something more going on here. But what, she couldn't say. She didn't know enough about the goings on behind the scenes yet. Perhaps she should dream herself into the Emerald Dream tonight and confront the Aspect herself. Or she could contact the Cenarion Circle Archdruids for advice. What had seemed at first a simple mission to free a trapped dragon, powerful though he was, was turning into something a bit more dangerous and complex than she was wanting to be involved in. And their adversaries seemed to becoming more numerous and powerful as the days went by.

She was also not liking the way Anaiya seemed so drawn to the gem. Obsession over an object never led to a good thing in her book. Look what happened to Arthas and his quest for that sword after all. Ver idly stared into her cup of mead, wondering what kind of obstacles they'd encounter next.


	20. Ch 20: Watch for Trolls mon!

A/N: Hello dear, lovely readers! It has been a while, hasn't it? I'm really sorry for that! I've been so busy working, and I had to get a new computer, and then I had to redownload all my programs, and then I lost my copy of this story. Ugh! But of course, you don't want to hear that, so on with the show! Or should I say, story? Enjoy! And um, sorry about the cliffhanger? Don't shoot me? *ducks* I swear, I don't _mean_ to write them! It just happens that I think it's a good spot to leave the chapter off at, because when I think of what comes after, I always think it would be better to have a full fresh chapter to put it all in, instead of halfway through one.

* * *

Chapter 20: Watch out for Trolls mon!

Anaiya dreamed. She stood in the center of a circle. All of her new friends and group members stood around her in a circle. They all stared at her, grim faced and concerned. Even disapproving, she thought uneasily, looking from one to the other. Aunt Ver had her arms crossed, feathered robe swishing softly in a non-existent breeze. Shana was scowling at her, looking as if she'd committed a great crime. Umber was fingering his dagger as he eyed her warily. Laris seemed to be the only one unconcerned; rifling through a large tome with arcane symbols on the front. Even sweet Bessany was giving her a look of dismay and shock. Strangely, there was also a dwarf standing in the circle.

"What's wrong?!" She asked. Or meant to ask.

Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. No sound, she was mute.

They all continued to stare silently at her and Anaiya felt her shoulders hunch inward. She hated being the center of attention at the best of times and now she felt like she was being judged for something she didn't do. Or wasn't aware she'd done. Looking down, she noticed that she had the Soulgem clutched in her hand tightly. She blinked at it. She hadn't even been aware that she was holding it, but now that she'd seen it, she felt satisfaction seep into her. It was her gem. No one was going to take it from her and she'd do anything to keep it. Feeling eyes on her, she glanced up again, warily.

As she stared at those tight faces, she realized that one was missing. Where was Key? Feeling her pulse quicken now with alarm of a different sort, she swiftly scanned the faces again. Sure enough, he wasn't among the circle. And then, like dreams are wont to do, the scene changed. A soft green landscape shimmered into view. She stood in a pit topped by poles that had been sharpened.

Outside the row of stakes there stood a group of hideous creatures. Or so they seemed to her. They were tall, green skinned, green haired and had tusks protruding from their lips. Some had bones in their ears, or hanging on garish necklaces. Anaiya gasped in fright and shrank back. She stumbled over something on the uneven ground and fell on her back. Noticing she still clutched the Soulgem tightly, she turned to regard it.

And noticed what she had stumbled over. She felt the blood drain from her face. A bloodcurdling scream welled up in her throat, but no sound came out and she feared she would strangle if she wasn't able to release a vocal protest to what her eyes were telling her. She shut her eyes tight, resolved never to open them again. Moments after darkness enveloped her sight, she felt her surroundings shift again.

Beneath her palm, her trembling fingers felt polished grainy wood. A creaking sound came to her ears and she felt suspended, gently being rocked by some greater force. Opening her eyes carefully and hesitantly, she gasped when she realized she was in a darkened wooden room.

'_By Elune, what is going on here? Light, let this just be a crazy dream! There's nothing I want more!' _

"Thank Elune, I did find you!"

At the voice, which intruded quite loudly into what had been a silent dream up till now, Anaiya rather sensibly screamed like an elfling and started so badly she thought her heart would stop. She whipped around and gasped, this time in delight, already feeling relief wash over her as she saw that it was her aunt, sitting on a low cot bolted to the wall of the wooden room.

"Aunt Ver!" Anaiya veritably leaped at her aunt and hugged her fiercely.

Startled by the uncommon show of emotion, Ver awkwardly patted her niece. Embarrassed, Anaiya finally straightened up, trying to inconspicuously wipe at her eyes.

"Is this a dream? Oh please let it be a dream! Where are we? How are you here?" Anaiya pleaded her aunt.

Ver raised a long eyebrow and gave Anaiya a concerned look.

"What happened Ana? Yes this is a dream. I'm here because I dreamt myself into the Emerald Dream in the hopes of coming across you. Being a Druid, I knew you would be able to access the Dream as well, but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to find you. The Dream must have known that I wanted to speak to you. We are in a shared dream, where we can talk to each other. You will also remember everything of this conversation once you wake." Anaiya listened and nodded, relaxing slightly, which caused Ver to frown.

"What happened?" She repeated, more sharply. "That no good Blood Elf didn't harm you, did he? I swear by the Kaldorei spirits I'll flay him alive and feed him to the deviat fish if he did!" Ver began growling low in her throat.

Blinking, Anaiya held out her hands in a negative motion.

"No, no! Nothing like that. I just…had a nightmare before I found myself here, that's all. It's nothing really. I've already gotten over it." Anaiya tried to appear sincere, but she knew her eyes still had a touch of horror in them.

Ver gave her another long, searching glance, before she sighed. "You're growing up faster than you should. Elves of your age shouldn't have to deal with this kind of situation. This kind of risk. But we have little time so I'll say what I needed to."

She then leaned forward and took Ana's hand.

"We found out where you are. Stranglethorn Vale. Just stay where you are if you are in a safe location, or find a safe location nearby if not. We _will_ find you, have no worry! Even as we dream this conversation, I am on a ship headed for Booty Bay. We shall arrive there hopefully within the day. Just rest up, keep safe, and for goddess' sake, don't let that ruffian…do anything." She ruffled Anaiya's hair.

Anaiya felt a huge weight melt off her shoulders and she shook her head wordlessly, emotions too high to respond vocally. Finally they would be rescued. Help was on the way and they only had to stay put and they would be found! Safe! She could finally put her armor back on. Could wrap her fingers around her staff. It wasn't much but she now appreciated having that extra bit of defense. Back with the group, where things could go back to normal and she could forget about the foolish feelings that were stirring within her.

She grinned to herself as she imagined what her aunt would say if she admitted that Key had kissed her. She turned to look at Ver again, to thank her profusely and promise that she'd not move, but she was dismayed to see that the landscape was taking on a blurry, dreamy look. Her aunt's features were fading, as was the wooden room they were in, which she now realized must have been a room in the ship her aunt had mentioned. Ver nodded at her when their eyes met, and then the dream melted away like candle wax and her mind sank down into a deeper sleep.

* * *

Morning dawned rather slowly in this part of the world, Key observed from his position on the tree branch. The sun, a red-gold ball that seeped between the trees like syrup from a bottle, gave the canopy of trees a brilliant outline and nearly blinded him looking at it. Which was okay because he'd much rather look at Anaiya instead. The light slowly bathed her form in soft gold, outlining her soft features in a complimentary way.

The grin faded as he felt a twinge in his side. His skin started tingling along his ribs and he felt his heartbeat speed up when he realized that his fingers on that side had gone numb. He clenched his hand into a fist and then shook out his fingers, hoping to make the strange numb feeling go away. Thankfully a few minutes of rubbing, he was able to get his feeling back, but the ache in his side wouldn't go away. It had morphed into a dull throb that threatened to make him sick. Feeling he must look quite pale and ill, Key quickly cast a simple heal spell on himself. His knowledge of the healing arts was as extensive as his knowledge of Druid spells, but he did manage to perform a fairly weak healing spell on himself.

Knowing he had to wake Anaiya up and tell her, Key sighed and stretched. He hadn't slept last night, too worried about how vulnerable they were and what was going to happen next. Not to mention the drumbeats he'd heard in the early hours before dawn. It was probably not a good idea to stay here much longer.

"Ana dear, wake up. Ana!" He whispered lightly, not wanting to startle her and cause her to fall out of the tree. Anaiya mumbled something about being late for Priest training and Key snickered. He stretched across his branch and nudged her boot. Anaiya mumbled a bit more and flung her hand out to the side. She suddenly froze and lifted her head.

"Morning sleeping beauty!" Key said in an exaggeratingly cheerful voice. Ana grimaced at him, finding how stiff she felt. She muttered under her breath as she carefully maneuvered herself into a sitting position facing the Paladin. She stretched and flexed her hands, giving him a sour look.

"Why do you look so happy?" She asked grumpily, having to squint against the incredibly bright sunlight. Key chuckled at her again, causing her to feel an increasing level of annoyance. This was elevated when the Blood Elf expertly leaned over and jumped down from his branch, landing on his feet in the bed of dead brush around the tree and looking up at her expectantly.

"My aunt told me we should stay put until she can find us, so get back up here!" She snapped crossly. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh? Did you guys form a kitty mind bond and have a nice chat over tea during the night then? And even if she _is_ on her way, it's not a good idea to stay here." Anaiya glanced around. From her position in the tree she could see fairly well. Unlike Key, her eyes were trained in leafy terrain and she could see nothing amiss about their location. All seemed quiet and calm. It was the perfect safe place to sit and wait for rescue. If it wasn't for that infernal sun beating down on her with incredible hot brightness, she might actually begin enjoying herself.

"There's nothing wrong with my plan. We'll just wait here to be rescued, like aunt Ver said, and that way we won't be eaten by anything! Now listen to me for once, I know forests and this seems the most likeliest spot."

Key watched her, saying nothing as she spoke. '_Obviously not a morning person'_ he thought wryly as she scolded him.

"Well, I hate to curb your enthusiasm, my succulent young fawn, but, despite your _extensive _knowledge of forests, you don't have very much knowledge about Stranglethorn Vale, or Trolls. So unless you don't want to be beaten and chucked in the cooking pot, I suggest we get a move on." He tapped his foot for effect.

Anaiya frowned comically, looking equal parts bewildered and irate. "Don't be sarcastic with me! I'm the…unofficial, sort-of leader of this expedition! What do you mean Trolls? You said there wouldn't be any around here; that they stuck to their own tribal territory! You lied?!"

Key nodded and waved his hands. "Yes, I know what I told you." He muttered, too low for her ears to catch, "Sure, she only remembers the things she wants to." Louder he continued, "However, I heard drums earlier this morning, while you were snoring, and they sounded awfully close."

Ana's face reddened. "I do not snore!" She hissed at him, feeling insulted, then paused. "You heard Troll drums? Close by? I guess we better go then…but where? We have to make sure that Ver can find us and she can't when we're wandering around all over Azeroth!" Reluctantly, she too leaped from the tree, mimicking Key and giving him a smug look. Key grinned at her, which made her irritated again. She really hated early mornings when the sun shone so blindingly. And she really hated Blood Elf jerks. "I don't snore." She said, sullenly, and Key's grin widened.

"Come on," he said, more seriously. Hesitantly, he plucked at her hand and shrugged. "I mean it, we can't stay here. It's not safe; especially when we don't have anything to defend ourselves with. We'd be Troll soup if we got caught…if we're lucky." Anaiya trailed along behind him reluctantly. '_If we're lucky?_' she thought to herself, feeling uneasy. Also, for some reason hearing him say the word Troll gave her a tiny thrill of fear deep beneath her breastbone. She felt she ought to remember something important.

It couldn't have been more than fifteen minutes when Key abruptly stopped. Ana only barely avoided slamming into his back and had to dance to the side to avoid the collision. She glared at him irately.

Her mood had not improved by having to traipse through the hot, humid undergrowth in the Paladin's. Every single tree, bush, and fern scratched her tender, night-kissed skin, and despite the thick canopy of leaves, the sun seemed to be determined to beat a hole through her skull. To make it even better, Key was shorter than her, which means he chose a path that, while seemingly easy to traverse for him, was a constant pain for her as she was constantly ducking and weaving to avoid low hanging branches, tangling ivy, and thick ropey vines.

"What is the problem now?" She asked waspishly, slapping a long vine out of her face and brushing limp, sweat-damp hair out of her eyes. Key moved slightly to the side and she gasped. There was a large stone block in their path. It was flat and smooth and had some dark brown stain across the top. Strange symbols had been carved along the length of the obelisk. Staring at it, Anaiya felt an unreasoning fear well up inside.

"What is that?" She whispered, glancing around into the underbrush as if some monster would tear from the trees and rend her limb from limb. Instinctively her hand darted down and clutched at the pouch that held the Soulgem, as if reassuring herself it was still there. Instantly she felt calmer. Her surroundings didn't seem all that interesting anymore, and instead she thought of the next time she'd able to contact the dragon again. Seeing Key watching her, she backed away a few steps.

"I was afraid of this." Key said, looking resigned and a bit fearful himself. "Apparently we're pretty deep into Troll territory. I can't tell what tribe from these markings, but this is definitely a sacred Troll fetish. We need to move away from her quickly."

As he watched her caress the Soulgem, Key couldn't help but add, "You know, you're getting awfully attached to that thing. Remember it's only a container to keep that dragon trapped inside. Who knows what dark and twisted magic is infused into the gem." He paused as Ana's face morphed into an ugly, suspicious expression. "Perhaps you ought to…let me carry it? Or at least, let me put a holy seal on it? It might do you good to not have the weight of its responsibility around your shoulders constantly." The moment he said that last bit he regretted it. Her expression darkened and stepped back again.

"Why would you say that? Do you think me incompetent?!" Ana demanded sharply. Somewhere in her head, she felt that maybe she shouldn't be this furious over a simple offer of help, but her head felt stuffed with Moonsaber fur. She shook her head and glared angrily.

"I knew you always desired it! You want it all to yourself I bet! I can just see it now. You'd be the talk of your city…Silvermoon was it? You could save face for having been bested by a simple curse. All the Elf woman would surround you. How dare you try to steal my honor! This is my quest! Mine! It was entrusted to me and I will rescue the dragon, not you!" The longer she talked, the more furious she became, and Ana found herself veritably shouting in fury at the Paladin, who was giving her a look of dismay and shaking his head.

"Ana, listen to yourself! Can't you see that what you're saying is utterly ridiculous? I only stayed with you so far because…well because I like you and I didn't want you to get hurt. No one other than your aunt maybe, seems to understand that you're still young and not as experienced and jaded as them. Killing monsters and getting involved with Ysera? That's not the sort of thing a young apprentice Druid should be witness to on her first adventure. And you need to keep your voic down! I don't know where the Troll tribe is currently, but they can hear quite a distance! I'd not like us to get caught by them while we're standing here arguing a moot point!"

He stepped closer, trying to convey how sincere he felt. "I would _never_ take the honor of this quest from you Ana. I've always put your welfare before mine."

Ana watched him warily, keeping herself tensed. She positioned her body so that could dash back the way they'd come if she had to, but when he didn't spring at her as part of her mind was adamantly telling her, she relaxed by increments. The fog seemed to suddenly lift from in front of her eyes and she staggered. She stared down at the leafy carpeting of the jungle, feeling mortified and a bit light headed.

Did she really just say those things to Key? He'd been like a friend to her! He'd even saved her life. Of course he'd made it known from the beginning that he wanted into her bed, but in a way that just seemed to add to his charm. She knew he'd never do anything to harm her. And steal the orb? Really, why would she think that? He'd not seemed the least bit interested in it.

She raised her head to look at Key, to see that he was watching her, a relieved expression taking up his face, and she managed a tentative smile. The jungle around them seemed eerily still and quiet after her rant. Opening her mouth to apologize, instead she shrieked when the green face from her nightmares suddenly peered between the trees behind Key.

Right at that moment, two things happened at once. Key suddenly became incredibly pale and collapsed onto his knees, holding his cursed side. At that exact moment, a spear came whistling from behind Anaiya's back and thudded into the tree that stood directly behind Key. If he'd been standing, it would have killed him instantly.

Heart in her throat and feeling an increasing sense of helpless bewildered panic, Anaiya fearfully darted forward, horrified that perhaps her companion had been hit by the spear or by some other unknown object. She knelt quickly at the blonde paladin's side, putting her arms tentatively on his shoulders while she glanced around. Rustling could be heard from seemingly all directions, and she felt like curling into a ball and moaning in terror.

Alternately she felt shivery and hot and thought that perhaps she ought really to have stayed in Moonglade and gained a bit more experience at handling these kinds of situations before going on such a monumental quest, as she obviously seemed to panic at the worst moments.

"Key! Key, please you have to get up!_ Keyanomir_!" She shook him urgently. Key groaned and looked up at her, eyes unfocused. He was still clutching his side and seemed unaware of his surroundings. "Key!" Ana's voice sounded strangled and she took a deep breath to get herself under control.

_'Snap out of it Ana! Think or your both dead. Need to get away from these Trolls!'_

Somehow, by some miracle of Elune, she mustered the strength to pull Key to a semi standing position, where he swayed dangerously. Thankfully the life was coming back into his eyes. Ana anxiously fluttered around him, trying to prod him into movement. He looked at her, rather inquisitively, as if wondering what on Azeroth she was doing, willingly touching him. If it wasn't for her look of utter desperation, he'd have said something lecherous, but she looked half out of her wits with fright and he could feel her frantic heartbeat where their bodies met.

Angry chanting in a foreign tongue reached his fogged mind and he realized that they were in greater danger than just the curse mark. As if to emphasis this, another spear came whistling toward them. Key pulled Ana and himself out of the way in time, feeling agony slice into his side from the movement.

_'Great timing, just damn great.'_ He thought sarcastically, not at all sure who exactly he meant by that.

The curse mark flared, causing him to bite his lip in pain.

"Curse mark…draining." He managed to whisper to Ana.

She glanced downward, than bit her lip.

"I'll have to look at it later. Right now, we need to run. I think they're still debating on whether it's safe to come out or not, but I doubt their hesitance will last long. We need to get out of here now!"

Out of the gutteral chanting voices, Key managed to make out a few garbled words that he recognized from his earlier days as a mercenary. "It's only just two elfsies." And something about soup and..sacrifice? Already, Anaiya was tugging him along, her small, cool hands keeping him upright. They stumbled into the undergrowth and Key prayed that they were able to get away safely. Behind them the chanting had gone eerily silent. Not a good sign.

Unfortunately, he knew that these jungle Trolls were very familiar with this kind of terrain and could navigate through this tangled undergrowth with ease. For a few moments though, it seemed they had gotten ahead of the tribe. The sounds of pursuit were close behind, but not on their heels, and they were shambling along at a rather fast pace despite his lack of any real co-ordination.

To tell the truth, he wasn't even sure how he was still standing. With every rapid step they took, he felt like daggers were raking his insides. A draining, sinking feeling seemed to be melting his brain and he knew with fresh alarm that the poisoned mark was draining what little magic was left in his core. As a Paladin, he knew that if the mark drained him completely, it would then begin gnawing at his life essence, until there was nothing left but an empty husk. Not exactly a death he was looking forward to. It was a tossup of what would kill him first; the Trolls or the poison.

* * *

"We have found da tracks, High Priest."

The large, leaf-green Troll stopped to get his breathing under control, bowing his head to show respect.

Zan'Kaja paused his forward pace a moment and glanced at the scout. For a very brief moment he felt dismay that the little elf woman had been found so easily. He had of course, no problem in committing murder for his God. The problem was that, despite it still being murder, those he'd slaughtered had defended themselves. Wandering heroes, pillagers and raiders, rival clans, powerful enemies that sought to steal Hakkar's power.

He'd yet to take the life of a young girl who's only misfortune seemed to be that she had come into possession of an artifact that the Blood God wanted very badly. Why the Blood God wanted it was of no consequence to a lowly priest, but the images that the god had implanted in his consciousness had brought to mind images of his own daughter, nearly fully grown and turning into quite the proud and strong Troll.

She was his joy and he could only image the kind of pain this elf girl's family would go through when they discovered she had died in some far distant land for something that was obviously out of her level of experience. Perhaps he could reason with the girl? Her life for the artifact. Just that thought had him cringing, half expecting Hakkar's angry voice in his mind, along with some kind of mental torture for daring to go against his wishes.

However, no heavy, evil presence invaded his mind. Hakkar must be occupied to not respond to that. He noticed that the company of Trolls had stopped, watching him warily. The scout had lifted his head and now seemed to fidget. Oh yes, must remember to pay attention to surroundings.

"Good, Tolch'ak. Have t' other scouts be concentratin' on keepin' to the path. The rest of youj, pick up da pace. I want dat girl and da master's artifact by nightfall!" His sharply barked orders had the other Trolls nodding and moving again. He should know better than to become so absorbed in his thoughts that he forgot his surroundings. There were plenty of other young Troll priests would do anything to gain his status as a favored pet of Hakkar.

Even just a few whispered rumors could bring about one's downfall if Hakkar took the right mood. The group of Trolls shambled through the jungle soundlessly, easily able to maneuver through the think tangle of trees and vines. Their hunched posture and long arms allowed them to effortlessly cover the uneven ground at a rapid pace. At the head of the group of variously skilled Trolls, Zan'Kaja was the first to notice the subtle changes around them.

The trees and brush soon thinned out, and the vines in the trees took on a more deliberate pattern.

Frowning, he slowed the group and glanced around cautiously. A scout melted out of the trees and hurried to his side, matching his pace with ease.

"Report." He said calmly, keeping his slanted red eyes on the surroundings. The scout gave a grunt and nodded.

"It not bein' good, High Priest. There be markins' on da trees, warnin' of bad voodoo and omens. I'd say, from da patterns, dat we be in Skullsplitter territory. To go further be to risk runnin' into a scoutin' party of theirs." The scout shook his head grimly, beaded braids clinking roughly. Zan'Kaja scowled, feeling instinctive tribal fury rise up inside. He clenched his digits, trying to keep the Troll bloodthirst from taking over.

"Skullsplitter!" He spat after a long moment of silent struggling.

"Dey be da bane of da Hakkari Trolls. Our hated rivals, dey be! Where do da tracks lead?" He flexed his shoulders to erase some of the tension he felt. For generations, the Hakkari Trolls, who fearfully and loyally worshipped their god, Hakkar, had been at war with the hated and despised Skullsplitters, who had broken from the original tribes to create their own, heathen tribe of cannibalistic brutes who performed blood sacrifices to their own god.

Zar'Kaja had heard many stories about bloody fights and skirmishes between the two tribes, who almost never passed up the opportunity to deal as much bloodshed as possible to their hated enemies whenever possible. Even now, he was torn between following the elf girl and tearing off through the jungle, howling for the blood of his ancient, tribal enemies.

"Which way be the trail of da elf maid?" He inquired again through his tusks, voice thick. The scout wordlessly pointed forward, into Skullsplitter territory, hardly able to contain his own fury. The Hakkari Trolls had been disciplined and molded by Hakkar to learn to resist their barbaric and savage urges, but to be faced with such blatant evidence of a tribe of Skullsplitters was almost too much for any Hakkari Troll.

And now they wouldn't have to fight their natures to go seeking that elf and the artifact. They could slay her, retrieve the artifact, and bathe in the blood of their enemies before heading back to the Temple of Zul'Gurub. A fine battle would clear his head of any doubt he had over the elf girl's death. He gave his scout an eager, bloodthirsty sneer, and the scout, sensing the High Priest's desire, grinned back. The group of Trolls rushed forward into Skullsplitter territory, heartened by the thought of attacking their hated cousins.


	21. Ch 21: And Than Things Were Complicated

A/N: Whoops, time just sped past and before I knew it, months had gone by without an update from me! I'm terribly sorry! I so hadn't planned for that! But never fear, for as I've said, I will not abandon this story! I just became...incredibly distracted! On a side note, I'm going to BlizzCon yay! My sister and I are travelling there for the first time. I'm so excited! But anyway, here's the next chapter, enjoy! Again, I apologize for any grammatical errors, or improper sentences! I don't have anyone to proof read or beta my work, just little old me! And most of it is written at like 3 in the morning when I'm so tired I don't catch all the errors. But here it is! Hopefully I can get the next chapter out much quicker than this one!

* * *

Chapter 21: And Than Things Became Complicated

Before the ship had even stopped moving, Ver had sprung off the deck, landing cat-like on the docking ramp. Instantly she walked quickly down the planks and onto the dock, which bobbed slightly in the ship's wake.

"Excuse me! Hey? Who's in charge here?" Her voice carried quite clearly above the usual bustle surrounding the shipyard. Waving her hand briefly in front of her face in a vain effort to keep the scent of fish and seaweed from her nose, Verfanas glanced around the dock. The sun shone high on her back, a steady reminder that time was passing at an alarming rate, despite her wishes. She knew that every second they were not out looking for Anaiya was a second that they could not afford to waste. Too much was at stake, and she wouldn't –no, couldn't- rest until her niece had been safely ensconced at her side.

"Miss? Lady Night Elf miss?" At the tentative voice, Verfanas glanced to the side and noted a goblin standing by a post not far from her location. She cocked a long eyebrow but walked over. Behind her, the others followed her down the ramp in various states of disarray. The voyage over hadn't been very kind to the Forsaken, who had gotten violently seasick and had spent the trip bemoaning her fate.

Laris had kept to himself, spending the time going over his spell book and filling the ship's atmosphere with longing sighs for his ladylove, while Umber had spent his time trying to console a distraught Ver. Bessany had tried making the trip more bearable for Shana with her Druidic magic while the Dwarf, what was his name again? The dwarf had stomped around the ship alternately complaining about the time he was wasting on this mad chase and babbling excitedly about what he'd fine in Stranglethorn, one of the oldest of the Troll settlements and therefore chalk full of interesting historical objects. Ver almost felt like rolling her eyes again remembering the voyage.

"You in charge here?" Ver asked imperiously when she'd gotten closer to the diminutive creature. The goblin swallowed and nodded, beady eyes darting between her and the ship. He went a shade paler when he saw the rest of the party assemble around and behind her. She turned briefly and noticed that the forsaken's coloring was returning to her usual, pasty gray shade and that the lot of them looked infinitely relieved to be back on dry land.

"Good, we're going to need at least two days docking time, so whatever the fee is for that, my friend the Dwarf will gladly pay it. And we'll also need fresh supplies, a set of mounts and a bundle of fresh bandages if you have them." Ver nodded imperiously and folded her arms, accustomed to swift obedience from the citizens of the towns she passed through. As a hero of some renown about the world, she had no problem gaining the supplies she needed for each of her adventures. The goblin sputtered; sweat forming on his thick green skin.

"Miss, that's what I was gonna tell you. You can't just set yer ship here! We have the Maiden's Fancy coming into port here in a couple of hours at the earliest! You _can't_ be here, miss, this is for trade ships only." His words petered out as Ver continued to silently stare him down and his eyes darted nervously from right to left as if looking for some escape route. "Please, I'm going to have t-to ask you to an-anchor your ship off shore. Please?" The goblin tentatively held out his hands in a half shrug and quirked a slight, hopeful smile.

No reaction from the tall Night Elf.

The goblin's face slowly paled and he shifted, clutching at his shirt collar. It was one thing to know he was in the right and that this ship couldn't sit in dock without proper sanction, but it was quite another to enforce his will, especially to a whole group of what looked like seasoned war veterans. The goblin made another half-hearted attempt at persuading the intimidating elf that her ship couldn't block the bay.

Ver's answering smile showed sharp eyeteeth. A hand on her arm drew Ver away from her staring contest and she reluctantly turned a questioning look upon Umber, who looked apologetic himself.

"Look Ver, the poor dockmaster here, he's just doin' his job. It's not his fault we just arrived here unannounced and you have to admit that the Maiden's Fancy would have more rights to this dock than our dwarven archeological ship here." He gestured vaguely behind him at the ship, whose shadow they were standing in. Ver glanced down at the goblin again, feeling frustrated by the delay.

"Fine, the dwarf and his crew can secure the ship somewhere offshore, but not too far away, just in case." Krom opened his mouth to protest and promptly closed it again upon seeing the flat glare being leveled at him. He decided it was wisest to just do as the lady elf said.

Although he would much rather be traipsing through the jungle with this lot. He had a feeling that excitement and adventure followed this party like goblins followed money.

"Better not meddle with our ship, goblin." Ver warned the quivering green-skinned creature, who was thanking his lucky stars that the angry Elf woman was complying. He wasn't sure there was anything he'd be able to do to stop her if she'd refused to listen, or had just overrode him.

Feeling caged and agitated, Ver stomped off down the dock. Umber shrugged helplessly at the goblin and strode after his lover, making a motion to the rest of the party to follow. After a few hesitant moments, Laris waved his hands and instantly transported himself twenty yards down the dock, where he was swift to keep up with the Night Elf and the human.

Shana gave a half strangled groan and slouched off after them, keeping her staff firmly on the ground to aid her still churning stomache. She resolved to never board another ship for the rest of her unnatural life. Bessany's quick strides easily helped her keep pace with the undead priestess as she talked in a low, soothing voice. Left behind in the relative silence, Krom let loose a dwarven swear word and leveled an irate look at the goblin dockmaster, who gave a squeak and heartily prayed to whatever being he believed in that this was the last time he had to deal with such a temperamental group of people.

Muttering to himself, Krom stumped back up the docking plank and began yelling instructions to the ship's crew, preparing to sail further out of the bay. He hoped they could find a nice alcove to stow the ship in, as he had a firm desire to see Stranglethorn for himself. Not to mention, there was that nudge again, that small niggling feeling, urging him to quickly meet back up with the rest of that crazy group of mixed races.

* * *

"Yes, these will do nicely." Ver nodded, satisfied, and quickly counted out the coin needed for the purchase of the coil of thick rope. Behind her, Umber was warily eyeing the shadows, hands near his daggers. He'd already tried persuading her to stay at the Inn rooms they'd rented while he went out in search of supplies, but she'd laughed at his suggestion, confident in her ability to protect herself from any cutthroats that roamed the disreputable port town.

Yes, Booty Bay had a reputation as a town full of lawlessness, pirates, and other unsavory activity, but to an experienced Druid such as herself, there was little to fear. She flicked a strand of hair behind an ear and placed her new purchase in her pack. Turning around, she wiggled her fingers at Umber.

"Relax, will you? You're making me feel like there is a bad guy in every shadow." Her exasperation at him caused Umber to straighten up and sigh.

"I don't like the feel here. Something seems…off." At her sardonic look, he grunted. "You know what I mean! More off than the usual. You remember the last time we were here?" He winked with his one good eye as he said it and Ver scoffed.

"How could I forget. You caused me no end of trouble, you rogue!" Umber grinned, than became serious again. "We'll find her, Ver, don't worry. We just need to be careful. I don't like how this is all turning out. I feel like there's something else at work here. Something behind the curtain that we can't see. For such a simple mission, there seems to be an inordinate amount of interest in us and that bloody gem."

He shook his head, looking frustrated and Ver nodded reluctantly as they exited the leather shop.

"I know what you mean, but what choice do we have? We need to see this through, for Ana's sake if nothing else. She's bonded with the soul in that gem in a way that I don't understand, and we need to figure out a way to break that bond. I don't trust the dragon trapped in the gem. There's plenty here that we're missing, but hopefully when we reach that Emerald Gate, we'll get some answers."

After buying a few more supplies, including magic resistance enchantment for Ana's staff, which she hoped might at least hinder any future magical accidents (such as sudden trips across the world), Ver headed back to the town's only Inn, the Salty Sailor's Tavern. What a redundant name, she thought with amusement as she entered the establishment. Inside, the noise level suddenly escalated, as well as the smell of fish, sweat and beer.

Wrinkling her nose, Ver nevertheless headed for a table near the wall, where she could see the rest of their eclectic group gathered around various mugs of alcohol. She hitched a stool under her with an expert twist of her ankle and plopped down at the table beside Laris. Umber motioned for a barmaid and settled himself to her right.

"Well, what's the plan?" Laris asked after another sip from his mug, which looked too big in his small, child-like hands. Ver glanced around the table at the rest of them, gauging their interest.

Bessany had leaned forward once Ver was seated, looking somewhat anxious. Her furred fingers were curled around a large cup of some type of exotic juice. Over the duration of the journey, she'd grown close to the younger druid and was just as eager to see her found as Ver was.

Shana sat back in her chair, nearly in shadow, looking a bit unsure. For the first time, Ver wondered just how experienced Shana was. Despite her acerbic attitude toward the Alliance members of the group, she appeared hesitant and a bit lost. Ver wondered if perhaps she should suggest the forsaken take a wyvern flight to Undercity from here. She couldn't fathom why the priestess would continue to follow them despite her ties to the Blood Elf paladin. Again Ver had the sense of something else at work here, but she pushed that thought aside. She'd consider the entire situation further after they'd found Anaiya. Leaning her staff against the table's edge, Ver nodded.

"From what we know, Ana is out in the Vale somewhere. I'd say she's probably somewhere close to the mountain edge since I don't remember hearing the sounds of the ocean in our shared dream. Where exactly, I've no idea. But we don't have time to go wandering around the jungle looking for her. From the brief-and highly suspect- dreams we've all been getting, she is indeed in trouble. From who, I don't know, but I've a suspicion it's because of that accursed soul gem she carries. If only she hadn't picked it up…" Ver trailed off and cleared her throat, reminding herself to stay focused.

"What we need is a tracker. Someone who can find Ana for us, or at least give us a general direction to search in. That leaves two plausible choices based on the circumstances. Either we hire a Warlock for the services of their felhound, or a hunter who is experienced in tracking and has a keen pet." She quirked a grin. "Any preferences?"

"No warlocks." Laris glared sourly into his mug. "I hate warlocks. Their foul, perverted magic always gives me a headache. Not to mention, you can never trust a warlock. They always have some kind of hidden agenda. You think everything's all cut and dry, just an easy request, and then bam! Out of nowhere they betray you to the enemy for a bit of power and—what?"

Everyone was staring at him. Ver lifted an eyebrow.

"Personal problem?" she asked mildly. Laris scrunched up his nose and muttered something unintelligible into his mug. Glancing around at the rest, Ver made a nimble hand motion.

"So we ask around Booty Bay for any hunters willing to join our search. Sounds like a plan. Let's go."

She stood as she finished speaking, already thinking ahead. The sense of urgency she felt was becoming stronger. The rest of the group reluctantly stood as well, still exhausted from the trip across the sea. Still, no one protested. They all felt the pull of urgency, however muted, and were quite anxious to be reunited with their lost comrades.

Yes indeed, Ver mused. Something else is most definitely going on here.

* * *

Ana and Key lunged through the jungle blindly, not caring where they were going as long as it was away from the trolls eagerly chasing them. Behind, Ana's sharp hearing discerned that the savage trolls were gaining on them quite quickly, having apparently realized that the pair was indeed not a threat. Whoops and yells in a guttural language sounded from the tangled growth, spurring Ana's panicked flight onward.

Beside and slightly behind her, Key's ragged breathing was her only indication that he still followed. Furiously her mind tried to think of a way out of being slaughtered. Having no experience whatsoever in this kind of situation, her mind only provided her with terrifying images of what would happen when they trolls finally caught them. It was inevitable really. She knew they were both tiring. They had no weapons, no defense, and no way to escape. Not to mention that Key's affliction seemed to have gotten worse suddenly.

Praying to Elune for guidance, Ana nearly felt like sobbing, if she'd had breath to do so. Stories of heroes and fantastical events didn't mention horrifying near-death chases. At her side, the soul gem seemed to grow warm. Without slowing, she placed her fingers over the pouch, considering. Did Erranikus, the dragon trapped in the Nightmare, seek to offer aid perhaps? The elder druids had warned of trusting the dragon, or of becoming too familiar with the tainted magic contained in the gem, but she remembered the power of the gem.

It seemed limitless, like the darkness that kept the dragon from escaping his prison. Maybe there was a way to tap into the magic and use it to her advantage here?

Before she could even consider the thought further, both her and Key stumbled out of the thick tangle of vines and vegetation into a relatively clear area. Old tumbled stone lay around the clearing. It appeared that this was the sight of an ancient city, long in ruin. The crude design suggested it was troll-made.

Ana was completely out of breath from her mad dash through the jungle and each breath seared her lungs as she stumbled backward, facing back the way they'd come. Key coughed raggedly, face pale as he turned with her. Both of them silently watched the thick jungle foliage. For several seconds the only sound was their uneven breathing.

"Here, let me look at—" before she could finish the sentence, half turned to Key with concern, the trolls burst out of the undergrowth, howling.

She couldn't help the scream that bubbled out of her throat at her first good sight of the monsters. They were incredibly tall, with burning red eyes and long thin noses. Their skin was a strange greenish color and they were simply dressed in animal skins and leather. Most carried spears and other simple weapons. The trolls, around a dozen in total, all gathered behind one large, dark skinned individual who was obviously the leader.

He sneered at the pair of elves, a decidedly bloodthirsty look that promised much pain and anguish. Instinctively, Key thrust Ana behind him and concentrated on the holy light of his order, prepared to defend the slight night elf as best he could.

Suddenly, another group of trolls burst out of the underbrush to the right. They were lighter colored, almost blue-skinned, and wore vibrant colored armor. The lead troll wore a dark robe and carried a long crooked staff. His tusks were chipped and broken. Dismayed, Key turned and looked into Ana's eyes. There was no way they would escape this.

"I'm sorry, love." He said softly to Ana, who gazed back at him with an unreadable expression. Her heart was beating so fast and she felt dizzy and sick. With shaking fingers, she clasped Key's hand and pulled him back toward her as she moved away from both groups.

The newly arrived group of trolls eagerly eyed Key and Ana and the leader spoke softly in an unknown language, pointing at them. He gave a sharp nod at a shorter troll behind him, although his eyes showed regret. Ana wondered at that. At that moment, the group of jungle trolls seemed to suddenly realize they weren't the only ones in the clearing. The savage leader spat something, face contorted in animal rage.

The others behind him fanned out to the side, now focused entirely on the new arrivals, who had turned to face the threat. The air took on an ominous, charged feel. The eyes of the leaders locked. Without warning, the two groups charged each other, hacking savagely in an apparent effort to rip each other to shreds.

Ana and Key stood, stunned. It took several seconds for them to realize that the distraction of the new group of trolls could give them the time they needed to escape. Key quickly darted to the side, pulling Ana along by the hand. Moving as swiftly as he could with the flaring pain eating at his side, Key dodged between the fighting trolls, not wanting to question why they had suddenly attacked each other, or even where the new group had come from.

Unfortunately, he knew that the distraction wouldn't last long. The newly arrived trolls were vastly outnumbered and would no doubt provide just enough of a challenge to whet the appetite of the jungle tribe. Sure enough, the sounds of savage battle was slowly fading behind them, with the occasional grunt of scream interrupting the clash of weapons.

_Don't turn around, don't turn around_, Key chanted to himself, feeling his neck hairs prickle.

They plunged into the trees and he desperately tried to think of a means of shaking their pursuers. Trolls loved a good chase and a decent challenge. They wouldn't let their prey escape. Maybe he could find a way to hid Anaiya and distract them somehow…? No, they weren't stupid; they'd know Anaiya was out there somewhere.

A troll stepped into their path and Key stopped so abruptly that he fell. Without thought, he quickly reversed direction and ran back the way they'd come, dragging Ana along with him.

"Where be you goin' lil' elfies?" The troll enquired behind them in a low, guttural voice. Again they broke into the clearing, Key wildly glancing around for a way out, anything. Bodies of trolls, and parts of bodies, littered the clearing and the air smelled heavily of copper.

The jungle trolls had overpowered and beaten the odd-colored newcomers, but not without a price. They had lost nearly half their numbers. Despite that, the remaining trolls looked to be in high spirits, muttering to each other and shaking their weapons triumphantly at their fallen enemy.

"You be quick lil elfies, that be fo' sure." The same troll had stepped up behind them, blocking their way back into the jungle. Several other trolls stepped up, leering eagerly.

"Too bad you trespassin on da Skullsplitter sacred land. Now ya be punished."

"We didn't know it was sacred, we're sorry!" Ana blurted, panting and white faced. "Maybe you could just…let us go and we promise we won't come here again?" She knew it was futile, but she said it anyway. The troll gave her a considering look, lingering at her side, where she realized the Soulgem dangled in its pouch. Instinctively she covered the pouch with her hand and the troll narrowed his eyes with speculation.

"What be you dooin' out in troll land with no weapon anyway?" The troll asked, as if mildly curious. His look suggested that they must be either crazy or more than they seemed. Again his eyes roamed over her form and Ana was acutely aware that she wore only her thin white shift. She was wary of the look the troll was giving her, as if she was something valuable that he hadn't expected.

Key didn't like the attention she was receiving either, and stepped boldly in front of her, causing the troll to focus his attention on him instead. The troll grunted and shrugged. He gestured to one of his fellows, who laughed.

"Mebbe we let you fight fer yer freedom, eh elfies? Let da lil' maiden prove herself." He chuckled darkly. Key suddenly felt cold. He knew about the trolls and their fetish with duels and arenas. They loved to see a good fight, especially if it was bloody. He had an image of Anaiya, with no weapon, facing off against one of those brutes in one of their fighting pits and shook his head grimly.

"No, I'll fight! Leave her be." He said hotly. The troll scowled at him.

"This one be boring." He said, in an offhand voice. Except for some reason, it seemed like the words slurred together to Key. He was sure he should understand the words, even with the trolls thick, jungle accent, and yet the words seemed muddled, as if heard through a thick wall. And his eyesight wavered. He hadn't even realized something was very wrong until he began shivering. He turned to look at Ana, forgetting about the trolls.

She glanced into his eyes and hers widened in alarm.

"Key? What's the matter?" She whispered anxiously, and reached out her free hand, possibly to touch his forehead. Feeling intensely sick, Key staggered back and then was falling. The last thing he saw was Ana's stricken expression as she stared at him, wide-eyed.

Ana gave a soft sound of protest, not even aware she'd done so, as Key fell. She watched as his eyes rolled back and he landed without a sound on the soft loam of the jungle floor. Instantly she realized it must have been that curse on his flesh. She should have tried to cleanse it earlier. If only she had more training with her magic. If only she'd learned more about the poison cleansing spell her aunt had. If only…she couldn't take her eyes off Key's still form.

Couldn't move, even to see if he was still alive.

_Absurd. Of course he is silly. He'll be fine, I just need to cast that spell. Nevermind that it's beyond my skill level. I know I can do it with the help of the gem_. But for some reason, she couldn't move.

Couldn't blink.

She felt alternately hot and cold. Ahead of her, the troll leader said something, but her ears seemed to have sealed up and she couldn't hear a word. Rough hands grabbed her and than reality rushed back in. She screamed, so suddenly that the troll that had grabbed her released her arm with a savage curse.

Her legs folded and she reached for Key. She could see his chest rising and knew he was still alive at least, but this close, she could smell the telltale cloying scent of poisoned flesh. There was no time to lose, she had to cast the cleansing spell _now_! Clamping down on her panic, she focused on what her aunt had taught her, and reached deep within herself.

She was yanked out of her trance by another troll, who jerked her up and away from Key's motionless body. She shrieked and kicked, to no avail as she was pulled away. Wildly, she raked her nails across the troll's arm, drawing blood, which earned her a cuff on the head.

The troll said something harsh to the leader, who responded with a few clipped words and a laugh. Ana didn't care. She didn't care if they were taking her to be eaten, or as a sacrifice to their savage god. Her eyes never strayed from Key's form as she was dragged into the surrounding forest.

Her wails echoed in the clearing as he was finally lost to view and she fell limp in the troll's grasp.

Stillness settled over the clearing, interrupted briefly as one of the fallen trolls made a slight movement and cursed.


	22. Ch 22: Search and Rescue Part 1

A/N: Dreadfully sorry about the outrageously long wait! And I know this dreadfully short chapter doesn't make up for it. *cringes* But after so long I just had to put something out there and I haven't done anything before because all my time seems to be eaten up by working. Seriously. I work 13 hours a day...almost every day. So I'm sorry, and I hope you enjoy! As always, WoW doesn't belong to me and I hope you forgive my errors; I didn't proofread it.

* * *

Chapter 22: Search and Rescue Part 1

From her position over the shoulder of one of the hulking troll brutes, Anaiya watched the forest go by in a daze. Her mind kept circling back to her last image of Key, despite knowing she needed to worry about her own situation. She had no idea where the trolls were taking her, or what was going to happen once they reached their destination, and an icy feeling of dread was clawing at her belly most insistently.

Inside, she felt a whirl of confusion. So many emotions. What exactly did she feel for the blood elf Paladin anyway? He'd been a good companion, a staunch ally throughout their journey, despite his constant reminders that he had no reason to become involved in her quest. Which was true. He'd only come along with their party so he could have safe passage out of Moonglade. Except somehow, she'd become fond of the flirtatious blood elf over the course of their journey.

He'd defended her, praised her; treated her like an equal. Of course he'd also hit on her, given her pet names and had all but proclaimed he wanted to bed her. A small, choked sob surprised her and she quickly bit her lip. She needed to focus, to keep her emotions and thoughts under control or she'd never have a chance of getting through this alive. She tried reviewing all the information she knew on jungle trolls, but her mind kept coming back to Key.

Focus! She commanded herself. First things first. Where were the trolls taking her? To be eaten, a small, cynical part of her mind helpfully supplied. Ana growled. To their camp or village, no doubt. How far was it? She had no idea. What would they do with her? If rumors proved true, either they would eat her, sacrifice her, or torture her. Or possibly all of those things, in no particular order. She considered her position and was somewhat heartened.

Either they didn't think her much of a threat or were in too much of a hurry to actually bother, because her hands weren't tied or neither were her feet. That meant she had some chance at escape, however small it was. She couldn't give up hope. She also had her magic and her ability to shape shift at her command, if she could pull it off. So she wasn't completely helpless, but she was quick to admit that these trolls were far larger and stronger than her small shape and if they sensed she was up to something she had no doubt they would be swift in putting a stop to it.

As she went over options in her panicked mind, she became aware of a noise that was steadily getting louder. It took her a few seconds to recognize the drums her and Key had heard earlier, what seemed like eons ago now. The drumbeats were much louder now, seeming to resonate within her breastbone, an uncomfortable feeling. She lifted her head as much as she was able from her position on her captor's back and gasped. The jungle had thinned out and now she could see crumbling sandstone walls. The walls were old and covered in jungle growth, but had a presence to them of sinister intent.

They were just parts of fallen down constructs so far but she dreaded reaching the center of the ruins, where the Trolls no doubt lived. She began squirming in her captor's clutches, hoping he'd drop her. The more she tried to get free, the higher her panic climbed. The Troll slowed as her struggles interfered with his fast pace and he hit her sharply across the back of the legs. Instantly Ana stiffened, feeling insulted and humiliated. Then she renewed her struggles.

'_I need to get out of here!'_ Her mind wailed at her, consuming nearly every other thought. She didn't want to die. And especially not in the control of Trolls, the hated enemy of the Elves.

"No! No, no, no!" She hadn't even realized she'd been saying it out loud until the Troll growled over his shoulder at her in his own language. "Let me go!" She snarled back, furious. With a sudden lurch, she found herself airborne, being flung from the Troll's back. She landed hard on mossy ground, the impact driving the air out of her lungs in a painful huff.

Instantly, before her mind could gather up enough thought to freeze up in fright, she darted blindly to the side, away from her captor. A steel grip on her hair jerked her up short and she felt tears spring to her eyes at the pain. Nearly breathless, she bit her lip to keep from making a sound at the pain. She was pulled back by her hated captor and her head was jerked around so she faced opposite him.

She didn't want them to see how much control they had over her by her hair, but her hands kept twitching upward, wanting to ease the stabbing pain in her scalp. Through the tears of pain blurring her vision, she noticed that there was a very large, different colored Troll standing in front of her. Even hunched over, he was massive, taller than her by more than a foot. His tusks were long and yellowed and his beady red eyes were eyeing her speculatively.

The Troll Chieftain was the biggest troll Ana had seen yet. She could tell immediately he was the leader by his size and ceremonial garb. His face was painted and his hair was braided with bones and rings. Held captive by the grip on her hair, Ana couldn't stop the quiver that made its way down her spine. A sense of dread, such a terrible foreboding, filled her so suddenly that it was only her captor's hand in her locks that kept her from collapsing.

The Troll chieftain inspired a kind of primal fear in her, something that defied logic. It wasn't that he was frightening or fierce. Or that he was looking at her like a nightsaber eyed a rabbit. Because that was dreadful enough. It was the fact that, somehow…she'd seen him before. Which was impossible because she'd never seen a Troll before having translocated to Stranglethorn Vale. But nevertheless, this Troll was indeed familiar, like a memory at the edge of her subconscious.

Like the feeling you got when you spotted someone out of the corner of your eye that reminded of you of a friend you'd lost touch of as time passed. Except this wasn't nostalgia or a lost friendship she was feeling, but a sick fear that curdled her stomach. Somewhere, somehow, she'd seen this Troll before and something bad had happened right afterward. Ana was drawn out of her alarmed state by a shove from behind. She was pushed forward and nearly stumbled from the sudden release on her hair, only her quick Elven reflexes saving her from falling.

"What do you want with me!? I haven't done anything wrong! Let me go, I need to help my friend." Her voice sounded hysterical to her ears and she instantly cringed, taking a deep breath of the humid air.

The Troll leader smirked and slowly raked his gaze over her, filling her with cold dread for an entirely different reason. He spoke something unintelligible in his own language, gesturing to her. Ana frowned. He spoke again, this time sharp and demanding.

"I don't know what you're saying!" Ana cried, frustrated. The Troll sneered at her, eyeing her as one would a particularly vile species of insect.

"What have ya done wit da spirit, mon?" The Troll's accent was so thick and guttural that it took her several moments to decipher what he'd asked.

She glanced around in confusion, a bit taken aback to see that over a dozen Trolls had now assembled around her and the Chieftan, all eyeing her with various expressions of hostility and tightly bridled rage. She wet her lips.

"What do you mean? I don't have any Spirit of yours. I ended up here by accident. With my…friend. I need to get back to him! You don't understand, we didn't mean to come here, just let me—"

"Lies! We know an Elf stole da sacred Spirit Charm! Where be it? Tell now and yer death will be swift." Ana felt her eyes widen, her throat going suddenly dry.

This can't be happening. She didn't have a clue what sacred charm thing they were missing and she had no solution to her circumstance. As she desperately tried to think of a way out of her predicament, she became aware of a strange heat coming from her side, where the gem was stored. It was becoming hotter by the second. Without thinking, she placed her hand over the pouch that contained the gem, hoping to soothe the agitated spirit of the dragon.

She gasped at how hot the pouch was. Why was it reacting like this? There was something going on, something connected between the Trolls and the soul trapped in the gem, but what? Her scrambled mind couldn't even begin to guess. Glancing back through her uncombed hair, Ana saw the Troll Chieftain's eyes resting on the pouch at her hip and she realized, too late, that he knew she had something to hide.

When she defensively moved to step back he barked a sharp order and her captor behind her surged forward, grasping her arm so tightly and yanking her hand up so fast away from the pouch that she felt something give in her wrist, a sharp pain traveling up her arm. Letting out a strangled gasp, she tried to break free but it felt like being held in place by the magical entangling roots she'd called up in class at times.

Tugging also elicited such a sharp pain that she felt like crying. Reminding herself that she wouldn't get anywhere by exhausting herself against their superior strength, she held still and glanced around again, this time trying to think through the pain. Unfortunately she wouldn't be able to do anything effective while being surrounded as she was by all these Trolls. She'd have to wait for an opportune moment. She had to get free.

She had to get back to Key, who was lying out there in the jungle injured. He could be dying for all she knew and she couldn't even help him because these insane Trolls thought she'd stolen something sacred of theirs. Preoccupied as she was, she didn't react in time when the Troll Chieftain stepped forward suddenly and swiftly plucked the pouch from her hip before she could do so much as blink or protest.

"Hey, give that back to me! That is mine, how dare you! You don't know what your messing with!" She snarled and jerked against her captor's hold, forgetting about the pain of her sprained wrist. Her sudden and blind fury startled her just as badly as the Trolls. A small part of her mind was rather horrified at her reaction to the loss of the soul gem, but the greater part reacted like something important had just been ripped away and she wanted it back. Now.

She screamed her rage and struggled against the Troll, managing to make him stagger forward a step as she lunged at the Chieftain. Her voice lowered, becoming more sinister. "Unhand my possession or face the consequences." She hissed. The Chieftain paused, frowning at her with mild curiosity. Then he grunted and held up the pouch to better inspect it. Ana continued struggling, tugging and kicking at her captor.

The pouch was upended and a the small faceted green gem tumbled out onto his rough appendage. At the sight of the gem resting in the possession of someone else, Ana felt something inside her push to the surface. With a snarl she lunged at the Troll, tearing herself free of her captor with startling ease. She heard an exclamation of surprise and warning behind her, but paid it no heed. Midway through her lunge her mind blossomed outward and a new instinct took over.

Immediately she knew she was shape-shifting, like she'd done in Winterspring. The moment she thought that, the part of her mind that was still her panicked, resisting the alien sensations taking over. Even if she could do this, could get the soul gem back, would she be able to shape-shift back? She was sure that shape-shifting shouldn't happen like this. And how would she heal Key with paws instead of hands? How would she even hold the soul gem? In her teeth? So instead, with a keening snarl, she swallowed the power back into her mind, struggling to regain control of herself, to gain back her sense of self.

She felt her skin ripple and a wave of power ran down her arms and legs. Claws stabbed through her skin and her mouth opened full of fangs. A sharp and stunning pain to the back of her head abruptly slammed her back into her own body and mind with a jarring finality. She gasped with the suddenness of it, ears ringing and vision doubled. The Trolls were now all gawking at her; some had stepped back and others now brandished weapons.

A murmur raced through the gathered crowd and Ana thought she could almost understand their gibberish. Sharp words from the Chieftain had her swinging her head to glare at him spitefully. He still had possession of _her _Soulgem. A warm sting behind her ear had her rubbing at her scalp. Bringing her fingers before her eyes, she squinted against the blurred vision and saw blood on her hand. Her Troll captor must have hit her. She glanced behind her, almost collapsing at the pain that brought and sure enough, he was holding a spiked club.

Swallowing a copper taste in her mouth, Ana turned back to the Chieftain, who was eyeing her speculatively, she cleared her throat.

"Ah, I don't suppose you would consider giving me back my gem as I requested and sending me on my way? Please?" Ana forced a nervous, pain-filled smile. The Troll Chieftain smiled as well, a large, slow, sinister smile. His smile made her want to melt into the shadows and disappear from sight.

"Well well, little Elf is more t'an she appears, ya?" The Troll Chieftain's eyes gleamed wickedly. He spoke to a couple Trolls standing to one side, uttering a few sharp guttural words, before clenching his fist around the gem and striding off in a different direction. Ana struggled briefly as he walked off with her gem, but the pain and hopelessness she was feeling caused her to instead collapse to the ground.

Shakily she again pressed her one hand to her head while cradling the other in her lap. Her hated captor again clenched a fist in her hair, dragging her roughly to her feet and propelling her forward. The intense pain made her dizzy. She could barely see where they were taking her but at the moment she didn't care. She just wanted the pain to end. She stumbled at a wooden step and then found herself in a small, crude hut made of wood and vine.

It was bare of any furnishing except a single pole jutting out from the center of the floor. A ring was secured to the top of the pole. Voodoo masks and beads decorated the interior and ritual material littered the corners. She was shoved forward and fell against the pole, bracing her good hand against the floor. The one Troll guard threw a coil of rope at the other and muttered something before stomping out.

The remaining Troll wasted no time in securing her hands behind her and tying the rope to the ring in the post. She gasped as her sprained wrist was wrenched at a painful angle but bit her lip to keep from crying out. She would not give these brutes the satisfaction. She struggled briefly and succeeded on earning herself a cuff to the head that made fresh tears spring to her eyes. The Troll abruptly turned and stomped out of the hut.

Left alone in the hut with nothing but her sharp breathing, Ana quickly glanced around, hoping for some inspiration for an escape plan. But as she'd noticed earlier, the area was devoid of anything useful. It didn't look promising. She'd promised herself she would try to hold up her end of the group but she just couldn't think of any way out of this situation. And her head was throbbing with pain. She was tied up rather effectively in the middle of a Troll encampment. She was still inexperienced and unsure of her Druid abilities and she couldn't think of any spell to help the situation.

Her mind wandered again to Key, images of him lying so still disrupting her concentration. She _needed_ to get out of here somehow and get help for him. She wiggled again, hoping to loosen the ropes, but only succeeded in rubbing her wrists raw and shooting small daggers of pain up her arm. There were no windows and even though the doorway was open and unobstructed, she could see two burly Troll guards standing on either side.

* * *

Key woke slowly and with great difficulty. It seemed as if he swam through quicksand to consciousness. He became aware of his surroundings and with effort cracked his eyes open. Everything seemed edged in black shadows. And there was a tusked face inches from his own.

With a start and a strangled yelp, he rolled to the side and reached for his weapon. Or rather, tried to. His limbs felt like lead weights, disconnected from the rest of his body and the best he could manage was a sort of twitch in a general sideways direction. A part of his mind not trying to frantically figured out what happened wanted to curl up in embarrassment. What would the Blood Knights back in Silvermoon say about this if they saw his feeble attempts to defend himself.

Opening his eyes further proved excruciatingly difficult, as they seemed to want to resist his will but he persisted. There was something nagging at the back of his mind, something important he needed to be doing, but his mind felt scoured with a wire brush and stuffed full of inky black fog. A rather alarming sensation to someone used to a disciplined and organized mind. Then he remembered.

The Trolls! They had been chased through the jungle and there had been a fight between two different Troll parties. And then…Ana! He gasped. Ana had been captured by the Trolls! He needed to find her and find some way to rescue her before she was sacrificed to one of their dread gods or eaten. This reminded him of the tusked visage he'd been subjected to upon wakening. The longer he was awake, the more normal he felt, although his magic still seemed strained. Cautiously he reached down his side, tenderly feeling for the abnormal scar tissue that represented the poison Dar'Khan had infected him with.

"Oh good, yah be alive." The voice, gruff and thickly accented, caused him to jerk his head. A blue skinned Troll kneeled to the left of Key, one large three-fingered hand pressing into the loamy earth. Key narrowed his eyes.

"Am I your prisoner than?" He demanded boldly. The Troll snorted and waved his other arm.

"Hardly mon, I be in da same boat as you. All mah warriors be dead. By the hand of dem dratted Skullsplitters. I be thinkin we set up a little plan to get yer lass back and get some revenge on dem traitors. What say you, mon?" Key blinked, taken aback.

"You-you want us to work…together?" He snorted. "As if I would ally myself with a filthy Troll." He regretted saying that when the Troll's face darkened. He glanced away sharply, reminded of how weak he felt. If the Troll were to attack him, he wouldn't be able to do much to defend himself yet.

He took a breath and measured his words. "You would help me rescue Ana? Why? What's in it for you? For that matter, what are you doing in the Skullsplitter territory anyway? Your Trolls don't have the look of natives of the Vale, what are you doing here?" Key gazed hard at the Troll, who tilted his head and watched Key.

Key didn't bother to hide his suspicion and hostility. Finally the Troll sneered.

"Dis be the thanks I get fer saving yer hide? I already helped yeh, that should prove you can trust me. That be one nasty infection you got mon. Took all mah skill to get it out. Most of it anyway. There be a sliver of dark magic in der though." The Troll gestured toward Key's side, where his hand still covered the poison's entry. His eyes wandered to the location before he raised an eyebrow at the Troll.

"You were the one that did this? Healed the spread of the poison?" He scowled. "No wonder my mind feels so raw and fuzzy. Your dark voodoo magic better not have done anything untoward to my mind."

The Troll chuckled, a rather darkly amused sound. "You weren't in any position to protest, elf boy." There was a brief moment of tense silence while the pair exchanged glares. Key cleared his throat, suddenly wishing for a drink of water.

"Do you know where they took her than? Ana?" He finally asked as he went about the task of trying to stand. Once on his feet he felt a little light-headed but surprisingly okay for having been comatose for so long. He cursed his affliction for creating this situation. And now Ana was in danger because of him. He brushed himself off, then turned and assessed his unlikely ally again. "Very well, I agree. Let's go rescue Ana. What's your name, Troll?" The Troll grinned, displaying crooked yellow teeth.

"I be known as Zan'Kaja, elf boy. What be yours?" Key scowled, but relented.

"Keyanomir."

The Troll nodded, satisfied. He turned and started searching through the bodies of dead Trolls that littered the area. Blood seeped into the ground and decorated the nearby trees. As the Troll went among his own people, whispering words to the dead, Key made his own rounds of the Skullsplitter Trolls. He was able to pick off enough armor to create something to protect himself with as well as find a serviceable sword. It wasn't nearly as well made or sharp as his own but it would do.

He tied the sword to his new belt and adjusted the armor. It was much too big for his slight elvish frame but it was better than nothing at least. The Troll stood and gave Key an unreadable look. Then he chanted an odd word and thrust his gloved hands upward. A shimmery mist covered him from head to toe, making him look shadowy and dark. Key wrinkled his nose in disgust. Not only was his only ally a Troll, but he was a shadow priest as well. Just great.

A perfect companion for a Paladin. He snorted and shook his head. Zan'Kaja walked up quietly, giving Key a smirk, as if sensing his thoughts. "Dey be in dis direction, mon." The Troll said. Key inspected the area to make sure the Troll wasn't lying and found that the undergrowth had indeed been disturbed in the direction indicated. He never found it a bit odd that he didn't stop to wonder how this Troll survived when all the rest of his fellows didn't.

* * *

"Here." Ver tossed a water skin in Umber's direction, confident he'd catch it. She quickly strode along the wooden walkways that zigzagged across Booty Bay like a bizarre spider web. As she walked toward the stables she smiled, conjuring up a memory of the last time she'd been in Booty Bay. That time, as now, she'd come to save someone. Only that time, it had turned out to be an eight-legged creature that hadn't wanted saving in the least. She'd gotten into an argument with Umber at the time, one of many, and they'd ended up in the bay as a result.

She entered the darkened interior of the stables and glanced around, her eyes having no problem adjusting to the sudden loss of light. The woodsy smell of stabled animals, so familiar by now, relaxed her tense muscles and she eyed a few of the large creatures stabled within with interest. If they wanted to cover as much ground as possible the best way to accomplish that was with mounts.

"Hey there, how can I he—Ver?" Ver turned fast and instinctively tensed, reaching for the part of her mind that was shape shifter. Upon seeing Zareena Cromwind, the stable master of Booty Bay, she relaxed and grinned. Zareena waved back.

"Zareena, I was hoping you'd still be here. Do you still have my cat here?" Finding it easier to travel by paw without any extra burdens, Ver often left her mount, a large battle cat, at Booty Bay, in the good hands of its stable master.

"It's good to see you too Verfanas. How's that rascal Umber? Oh, and of course Kastya is still here. I take good care of her, just as you asked. She is never any trouble." Ver nodded, pleased.

"Umber is as unpredictable as ever. But we are in a bit of a complicated situation at the moment and we need a few more mounts in a hurry. Do you have any fresh mounts available for…"Ver paused and silently counted the party members with her. "Six. Do you have six fresh mounts available for my party to borrow for a time? It is for an important rescue mission. They will hopefully be returned no later than the morrow, as I intend to find my niece before the day is out."

The young stable master opened her mouth, eyes alight with concern and curiosity, but the expression on the Night Elf's flawless face caused her to bite her lip. "I think we should be able to get together a group of that many mounts for your party, but you have to promise to tell me this story when you're done because I admit to dying of curiosity over here."

Ver chuckled and nodded, then remembered something. "Oh, and I need one of the mounts to be capable of bearing a full grown Tauren."

She didn't add anything else to the statement and the stable master crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. Ver grinned wider and gave the young human her most innocent look.

"Don't be fooled by that innocent act. Verfie here is a hellion with claws. Literally." Umber's smooth voice drifted on the air.

The rogue strode out of the shadows behind Ver and she turned to give him an exasperated look, which he regarded with loving amusement.

"Your looks don't work on me, my dear. I know them all too well by now." Umber exchanged a cordial greeting with Zareena and then gave Ver an expectant look.

"Did you get all the mounts we need love?" He asked it as if he had no doubt she'd say yes. Ver scrunched her nose up.

"Of course. Our lovely stable master here has agreed to lend us enough for our entire party. Even the…unusual members." She smirked as she ran a finger along his chin, causing his eyes to spark.

"Well, we best be off than." Ver added cheerfully and danced out of Umber's grip. She headed for the exit, turning and waving a hand.

"Do be a dear, Umber, and collect the mounts?"

She stopped in the light that shone down on Booty Bay, her face becoming more serious as she turned her gaze upward. '_We will find you, Ana._' She swore to herself.


	23. Ch 23: Search and Rescue Part 2

A/N: Very sorry it's so long. Omg where does the time go? Seriously. I'd like to state again, thank you all so very very much for your loyalty and continued interest in the story. Seriously, reviews motivate me so much and make me feel so happy after a long day of work! :) They have nothing to do with updates of course, as I'll continue this story as promised! I would never abandon my characters to their fate! But reviews do motivate me to update faster! If you have questions as well, don't hesitate to ask! Again, I don't own blizzard! Circumstances in this story are based loosely on the Erranikus storyline, with liberty due to the open ended way the questline suddenly ended so I'm having my fun with it. I'm trying to keep the classes, story, setting, races, etc as close to lore and realistic gameplay as I can, but this is a "real world" with "real people" as opposed to just a game where you hit some keys and kill something. (har har...no pun intended) so I want to make the abilities seem as realistic as I could. I hope I succeeded there. Also, pardon the errors and grammer issues, I don't have a proofreader and I'm usually so tired by the time I finish that I just want to post it and get something out there for you eager beavers! And now, the chapter!

* * *

Chapter 23: Search and Rescue, Part 2

The trolls came for her later that day. Ana was thirsty, exhausted and in pain. It seemed that every movement caused a twinge in her wrist. While she had managed a few simple healing spells, her specialization lay not with restoration, but with shape changing. If she could even call it a proper specialization, considering she hadn't even the experience to shapeshift properly on command. Not for the first time, she lamented her choice of leaving Teldrassil. Why had she touched that gem? Grand adventures were not at all as she had pictured them.

The two trolls who had come to collect her and bring her who knows where were not gentle. Silently they yanked her to her feet, cutting her ties with crude knives. One of the troll's had a broken tusk that gave him a cruel, cold-blooded appearance while the other, a female, was just as tall as her counterpart with strong, corded muscles and boasted a sneer that made Ana feel cold down to her toes to look at. Even though she'd not met a troll before and knew nothing about them, she had heard many a story about how barbaric and violent the 'wild' tribes were. There had been a more civilized and restrained tribe who had joined the Horde and she quite fervently wished she'd come across a band of that tribe instead, impossible as that would be.

Absently she tried to remember what the name of that Horde allied tribe was, but the name escaped her. She was jolted out of her brief thoughts by a yank on her arm. The Trolls grabbed her harshly, causing her to fall to her side. She braced her palms against the rough planking and a dull throb began in her arm. Oh what she wouldn't give to have her aunt Ver's agility and fearlessness in battle. She'd rip their throats out!

"Let me go!" She hissed angrily as they literally began dragging her across the floor of the makeshift prison. She yanked her wrist free, burning pain that pulsed in time with her heartbeat throbbing up her arm.

"I can walk just fine on my own." She added in protest. The male troll said something fast and guttural and the female chuckled, a low, sinister sound. They pushed her from behind and she barely caught herself before she fell face forward for the second time in a matter of minutes, rolling quickly to the side to avoid putting pressure on her injured wrist. It was healing, she could tell, but slowly as her restoring magic was weak.

She gave her tormentor's a dark look from her position and considered throwing a spell at them, weak as her casting magic was. At least she'd do some damage. But the satisfaction would no doubt last only so long as it took them to retaliate.

As she was dragged out of the prisoner's hut, she caustically berated herself. '_Go explore the world, you told yourself. Adventure is something you've always wanted. Living the life of intrigue, suspense and exploration, wasn't that right?_'

As she was dropped, rather unceremoniously, in front of the troll chieftain, she thought that perhaps she'd have a word with her aunt about filling young girls' heads with wild stories of daring do and dashing heroes. An unbidden smirk formed as an image of Key in his shining golden plate was conjured in her mind at the word hero. But then she winced as she remembered the last time she'd seen him.

"Do ye be rememberin' where my loa's sacred totem be gal?" The chieftain's s thick accent brought her back to the present, sharply reminding her that she was no doubt about to meet a swift end. She swallowed, and then grimaced at how scratchy her throat felt. By Elune this jungle's unnatural heat would do her in if the troll didn't! What she wouldn't give for the tall, violet hued trees of home.

"I'm sorry. I told you before, I don't know. I ended up here in Stranglethorn by accident! I don't know anything about a spirit charm or an Elf that may have stolen it. We're not all the same you know. Just because I am an Elf does not mean you should assume I'm in league with your thief, there are plenty of Elves in the world."

She struggled to keep her expression neutral and not to display the anxiety she was feeling as she glanced around. Behind the tall, brutish chieftain was a small altar. There were strange objects scattered across it. And suspicious, dark colored stains. In the center of the altar there was a small, strange indent, as if something had resided there but it was missing now. Obviously the resting place of the missing spirit charm thing the Troll Chieftain was demanding she return.

Quickly averting her eyes, she noticed a deep pit-lke depression to her left, surrounded by crudely carved stakes. It was very large, easily big enough to hold a dozen Trolls. She stiffened in horror when she noticed the pit and ring of stakes. That. She'd seen that before. But where? She frowned, trying to recall where she'd seen something like that…

"Ah, but it be no coincidence that an Elf girl appear before us just hours after our sacred charm be stolen, mon. An' you have in yah possession another strange and powerful artifact. So yah be forgivin' me if I don' believe yah mon." The troll sneered, giving his face a nightmarish cast.

Ana felt sweat beading on her forehead and couldn't detach her eyes from the ring of spears. She'd only been half listening to the Troll's rant. There was something about that pit. The chieftain raised a bushy eyebrow and followed her gaze. Then he grinned, tusks causing his grin to twist into a malicious smile of glee.

"Yah be noticin' our little spot of entertainment eh? Don' worry, we got yah a front row seat." At this, the other trolls assembled guffawed, as if sharing a hilarious private joke. Ana stiffened and stepped back slightly, reluctantly dragging her eyes from the pit to stare challengingly at the troll chieftain.

"What? What do you mean? You would do well not to harm me; I have a powerful relative who will crush you if you bring harm to me!" She was proud that her voice quivered only the slightest bit as she met the Troll chieftain's feral eyes with her own glowing ones. The troll narrowed his eyes as he studied her, than he smirked.

"Yah be a brave one, I give yah that much Elfie. But even if yah not be in league with the scum what stole our totem, yah be tresspassin on Skullsplitter land, and yah must pay for dat. We haven't had much sport recently since we've had to defend ourselves against them hated Hakkari Trolls."

Ana felt her eyes widen in horror as the Troll glanced meaningfully down into the spear-lined pit, then turned to her with a raised eyebrow.

"I…please don't! You don't have to do this, I'll leave and you won't see me ever again. I don't belong here, I don't want to be here. I never wanted anything like this! I just wanted to have an adventure like the ones Aunt Ver always told me about!" Ana became aware she was babbling but fear had hold of her tongue and she couldn't seem to stop the torrent of words that rushed out. "It wasn't like I planned for all of this to happen. I don't want anyone to die. I just wanted to help that poor trapped dragon soul. Just give me back my gem and I'll go. I have a quest to complete. The Elder Druids chose me for the task, and I can't let them down. I haven't even passed my initiation so I can officially choose a specialization of talent. This can't—" She abruptly stopped as the troll female that had dragged her out of the hut gave her a hard shove in the direction of the pit.

Her eyes trailed down into the depression of their own accord and her vision shimmered oddly. "What?" she murmured, bewildered. Without warning she was given a hard shove from behind and with nothing to help her balance she tumbled forward into the pit.

By some miracle she managed to miss the sharpened stakes jutting out from the sides and top of the pit, landing with a dusty thud on the bottom of the hollowed out area. All the air was driven out of her lungs in one instant and she lay stunned on her side, hardly believing that this was happening. Shakily, she raised her head, peering through the sweaty tangle of her sea green hair to peer upward.

As if this was a signal they'd been waiting for, dozens of trolls appeared on the lip of the pit, staring down at her with varying degrees of hostility, cruel glee and bloodlust. A deep thrumming began and it seemed to resonate so deeply within her that it took Ana a moment to realize it was actually the sound of drums.

_'This can't be happening. This isn't happening.' _Her thoughts continued in this vein, a mantra almost, as she slowly raised herself on her knees and gazed all around. Trolls now lined the pit on all sides, three deep. Even a few tiny blue faces peered down between the legs of the adults. A strange prickle caused her to swipe at her forehead and she automatically glanced at her fingers, stunned to see the tips painted red.

What? She swiped again at her forehead, this time fingering the skin there. Above her right eyebrow was a shallow gash that stung as she touched it. Dazedly she turned and eyed the spears lining the pit. Obviously she wasn't quite as unscathed as she'd assumed. Not that it mattered, she thought darkly to herself. She might not know anything about troll culture but she was pretty sure being shoved into a pit lined with stakes was a preclude to some kind of gladiator style showdown. She'd heard enough tales around the fire to grasp the significance of this barbaric custom.

In all likelihood she'd meet her death here, in the middle of nowhere, thousands of leagues from home, on another continent, with no one to comfort her as she died, let alone be even aware that she was dying. A strange feeling beneath her breastbone had her pressing her hand there. It was almost like a hiccup, but painful. The emotion were so strong that she felt she might strangle on it, a deep burning fury and sadness that threatened to consume her thoughts, but she took a deep breath and forced it down. She refused to let these barbaric creatures witness her tears.

Determinedly, she forced herself to her feet and was pleased that though she felt wobbly, her body didn't betray her dread. With one hand she reached up and flicked her hair from her face, lifting her chin and staring upward with a challenge sparkling in her eyes. She would not die on her knees, dishonoring her family name and the memories of her newfound companions who would surely be looking for her. She would die with dignity. The drums abruptly ceased, leaving unnatural stillness in their wake. The trolls were utterly silent, peering down at her and she almost felt herself tremble at the sudden lack of sound. As one, the trolls turned and stared behind her.

Steeling herself, Ana turned around and stared in horror as the largest troll she'd seen yet-larger even than the chieftain, if such a thing was possible- jumped down into the pit with an agility that mocked her graceless fall. She quickly scrambled to her feet and backed away from the monstrosity, glancing around for any sort of weapon or protection against the hulking brute. Now that her hands were finally free, she quickly performed the necessary motions for a short healing spell, waving her one hand over the injured wrist, not wanting to exhaust her magical reserves. A cool sense of relief washed over her, bringing with it the scent of clean forest leaves and nature magic. Taking a deep breath, Ana forced herself to face the threatening Troll and assess her options.

Unfortunately, she didn't have many. She'd realized all too quickly what the Troll chieftain had set up. He expected her to put on a show in some ridiculously uneven battle against a much stronger foe. The result would most assuredly be her death as well as vast entertainment for the spectators leering down at her. Obviously the chieftain either knew she didn't have any valid information about his precious lost spirit charm thing or he was confident he'd be able to get it back with little effort. Either way, it wouldn't end well for her, she was sure. '_Think Ana, think!_' she scolded herself sharply as she continued to back away, eyeing the large Troll warrior fearfully. If she didn't want to end up as some macabre trophy to a barbaric tribe of Trolls, she needed to come up with a solution quickly.

Sadly, she wasn't under any illusion. She had no visible weapon other than her apprentice-level magic and her sketchy shapeshifting ability, no means of defense, and no quick way of escape. Without even trying she knew that if she attempted to climb out of the pit the Trolls watching above would just chuck her back down here. The Troll monstrosity across from her straightened from his leap into the pit and turned, gazing upward at the ring of Trolls watching them intently. He roared mightily, thumping his bare chest with a three-fingered fist. Ana snorted to cover up the increasingly stifling feelings of panic pushing against her breastbone.

'_Yes, you're such a big, tough warrior, slaying an innocent, weaponless elf girl half your weight.' _

She considered the powerful spell she'd inadvertently learned from Ysera the Dream Weaver, but dismissed it. That spell was for the cleansing of powerful mind controlling magics. It wouldn't be very helpful against this enraged Troll who she was quite sure was in control of his own mind. Unfortunately. Although inexperienced at it, she was a Feral combat druid by calling. She had yet to learn any devastating moves or agile attacks that could incapacitate her opponent but perhaps she could startle him into being more wary of her and being less willing to blindly charge in and skewer her.

And claws and teeth sounded like a much better idea than hands and weak spells. But of course, in order to pull that off, she'd need to shapeshift. Which she was a bit inexperienced at. She highly doubted the Troll would wait around while she took the time to concentrate on shape shifting. She envied the ease in which her aunt shifted and gave another lament to the fact that she hadn't waited till she'd learned even a rudimentary defensive routine before embarking on her first quest. Even as she thought that, the Troll turned his attention back to her, sinister glee fairly dripping from his expression.

In her opinion he seemed entirely too happy to tear her limb from limb. What happened to honorable combat? Fair chance? Even footing? She snorted again. He didn't seem to have a weapon about him, but then again, as big as he was, he probably wouldn't need one to squeeze her head like an overripe melon. Taking a deep breath, knowing she'd probably never be able to finish a successful transformation before that Troll rushed her and beat her into the ground, Ana braced herself and dived into the center of her mind, where the magic that made her a Druid rested.

She called, and a cat's savage roar answered.

The image of a sleek dapple colored feline appeared in her mind's eye, running down a long tunnel toward her. A commotion drew her concentration outward and she briefly glanced up. Now what? She frowned when she realized that the hulking Troll wasn't facing her anymore, but staring upward and to the side, a scowl drawing his lips upward around his tusks. He seemed to be searching for something, trying to peer over the lip of the pit.

Along that side of the pit, Trolls had gone silent and were glancing back in various states of alarm and confusion. The young ones were huddling down to the ground while the men were shouting in their own guttural language, something Ana couldn't understand but could guess at. No doubt they wanted to know what was going on. She spared a moment to curiosity herself, before realizing that this was the chance she needed to spring a surprise attack before the Troll warrior could turn his attention back to his defenseless victim. If she could pin him down or render him unable to attack her, perhaps the other Trolls would be too stunned to stop her and she could escape. Or maybe she could blend into the surroundings and prowl past the gathering of Trolls before they could think to look for her.

She hadn't tried that trick before but she'd seen her aunt do it a few times during their battles. It was that or wait to be killed like a senseless fawn. Putting the increasing noise and commotion out of her mind, she again called on her inner ability to shapeshift, giving her physical form over to be transformed into a fighting cat. Whatever had drawn the Trolls' attention wouldn't last and every second counted. As fur and claws sprouted magically out of skin and fingers, the first Trollish war screams echoed among the ruins and dense forest.

* * *

"We're close now mon, be on yah guard."

The Troll's guttural, sinister voice shook Key out of his worried thoughts. They'd been traveling through the tangle of jungle plants and trees for seemed like an eternity but in reality was little more than half an hour. Curiously, the paladin glanced around while rubbing his side absently. That shadow priest's so called healing abilities lacked something to be desired and he still felt the draining sensation of the affliction drawing on his magical reserves.

He spared a brief moment to wonder if Anaiya was right and Verfanas was on her way to meet back up with them. But even if she were, how long would it take to acquire a ship and/or secure safe passage across the sea to the Eastern Kingdoms. Crossing by the Maelstrom was always a dangerous journey and took time. Unless they had mages on their vessel of course. He hoped that was the case because he could really use a cleansing right about now.

He made a mental note to see about the idea of Verfanas teaching Ana how to cast that particular spell.

Zan'kaja kept alert as he stealthily crept through the jungle toward the Skullsplitter camp. His eyes darted to every shadow, knowing they'd come across scouts or lookouts soon. At the same time, he was carefully keeping his emotions and thoughts in check, not wanting to alert his master to any changes in the situation. He hadn't felt the presence of the god since they'd begun tracking the Skullsplitter war party and he hoped that Hakkar wouldn't become curious about the lack of communication recently.

He wasn't sure what he'd do once he found the girl. He'd seen her determination and spirit, despite her rather weak body and abilities and he found he was rather protective of her, oddly. Which was a strange phenomenon. He knew he wouldn't care. She was just an elf. One that his master had specifically requested that he retrieve, along with what she carried, and yet…there was something about her that made him want to help her.

To make sure she completed her quest and—Zan shook his head firmly, dislodging that line of thought. He must not do anything to draw the eyes of the Blood God. Hakkar rarely focused his gaze on any one Troll for long, feeling it beneath the notice of a god to keep track of the scurrying insects who desired his favor. Yes, his people had called out to the Blood God for aid in their time of hardship. They were a vanishing tribe, pushed almost to extinction by wars with the other tribes and by encroachment of other races. Desperate times called for desperate measures. So they had called, and he had answered. Like the rest of his people, Zan was relieved that the Blood God had secured a place for his people, in the grand newly created city of Zul'Gurub. They had gladly set up altars to the god, worshipping him and committing what sacrifices he required. But the longer it went on, the more disillusioned Zan'kaja became. By saving their people, they had doomed them to a perverted existence, ruled by blood and sacrifice and madness. They gained strength, height, new knowledge and magical abilities, but they lost a more crucial thing. Something that most never even noticed. Their sense of self.

And those that did protest, that thought to reason with the Tribe and find another way to bring themselves back to their former glory were silenced upon the very altars they protested against. So of course Zan was a loyal follower. But if another option came along to save his mate and child…he would gladly take the offer of a different way of life, even though the very thought of defecting from the tribe was anathema to a troll.

"You're looking more moody than usual, step on a thorn?" The elf's melodious voice, laced with arrogant self-assurance, broke into Zan's grim thoughts, causing him to give the paladin a caustic glare.

"Mind ya own business, blood elf." He replied in a low voice.

The paladin's eyes narrowed, the strange green glow emanating from within making him appear demonic in the jungle's shadows. "Don't speak to me like that, Troll. You're the one who wanted to ally with _me_, remember? If you don't like my company, you can go be friends with the local wildlife. I can suggest a few large fanged friends for you."

The paladin's chin jutted out and Zan mused darkly that he looked like a stuck up fop. Absently he wondered how someone who had looked more dead than alive not long ago could still strut around like a peacock in the middle of the forest wearing stolen armor that was too big for him.

"Tell me, elf, what exactly do the females of your species see in you males? Or are you the exception to your race?" He kept his voice low, being mindful that other ears might be listening in.

They needed the element of surprise if they were to have any chance of rescuing the female elf and making it out of the camp alive. Especially since the brutal and larger Skullsplitters had massacred his small scouting party. Key stopped abruptly and Zan could almost feel the waves of sudden fury coming off the paladin.

For a brief moment, he actually felt alarmed. Afflicted or not, the paladin wasn't a slouch when it came to combat and he didn't relish the idea of a fight with his so called ally. And definitely not at the edge of enemy territory. Apparently the paladin felt the same way for he took a deep breath and appeared to mentally count to ten. His aura relaxed, losing it's defensive stance and Zan felt himself relax as well, not even realizing he'd tensed up in preparation of a fight.

What a mercurial mood this paladin had. Key suddenly scoffed, waving his arm expansively.

"If you wanted advice on how to a woe a woman, you could have just said so. They usually take one look at me and fall all over me in droves." His cocky grin was back in place, although dampened by the effects of the affliction still draining his holy magic.

Zan grunted, not finding it worth the effort to respond to that barb. Although a small part of him prickled at the veiled insult. Oh how he loathed elves. Why was he helping again? Heaving a long, weary sigh, the shadow priest glided further ahead, before he stopped suddenly, all senses on high alert. His shadow magic tingled, creeping outward from his physical form with a life of its own as if feeling for something.

Automatically, he turned to the left and glanced upward, keeping completely silent. At first he couldn't see it, but his magic assured him something was there. Than the individual trees came into focus among the tangle of the jungle and he could just make out the armored body of a Skullsplitter Troll scout, perched on a smooth tree branch less than 30 yards from his current position. The Skullsplitter wasn't looking in their direction and appeared restless and bored.

No doubt they thought themselves secure, having taken care of the threat of Zan's small war party. His men would have crushed their insolent tusks into the earth if he'd actually come prepared to do battle with his own kind. But Hakkar had said only that the threat was a small defenseless elf girl and there was no need for a larger force. He required speed and efficiency over a large scale group.

Zan silently cursed the Skullsplitter's and their mothers as he hatefully studied the lookout. Behind him, Key eased closer with a surprising amount of stealth for someone who usually walked around wearing a full suit of plate armor and a large gleaming sword. Zan glanced at the paladin out of the corner of his eyes and Key nodded silently, signaling that he saw the scout as well. He waggled his outrageously long eyebrows at Zan and the shadowpriest raised his own eyebrow in response. Key rolled his eyes, than glanced between them and the scout, than back to Zan meaningfully.

Zan'kaja rolled his own eyes. As if he needed the paladin telling him what he was planning on doing already. Arrogant lout. He was half tempted to turn his shadow magic on the blood elf instead, but swiftly struck out at the scout with a swift silencing spell followed immediately by a massive mind spike that seared through the scout's brain before he was even aware enough to mentally fight back. The scout fell from the branch, a stricken expression on his lifeless face. The lower branches snapped and rustled until there was a soft thud as the body hit the jungle floor.

The local avian life stopped their constant song for a brief moment and all stilled. Than the jungle seemed to resume it's normal sounds. Key was gazing at Zan with wariness and disgust, his nose wrinkled up and eyes narrowed. Zan huffed an exaggerated breath and beckoned before quickly leaping forward, on the lookout for more scouts.

"What you be lookin' at me like that for, elf? You know I be a shadow priest, why you be surprised I act like one?" His words came out more sharply than he'd intended and he realized he felt defensive against the blood elf's obvious disdain of his tactics.

As if he was going to fight his enemies one on one. As a caster, he had very little physical strength and wouldn't withstand an assault of that kind for long. His best and most proficient weapon was his shadow magic and his skill at wielding it. Why was he being defensive anyway? He owed this blustering peacock nothing! Becoming rather irritated, Zan spitefully focused his mind on a nearby bird. A plague seemed to devour it from the inside out and it let out a stricken peep before it's mind clouded over with a violet film and it fell to the ground like a stone, dead before it left the branch.

Feeling absurdly satisfied, Zan lifted an eyebrow at Key. The paladin glowered. "Not only was that unnecessarily cruel, thus proving your barbaric and bloodthirsty nature, but you could foolishly alert our presence with your needless use of dark magic." The paladin stuck his nose in the air and swept past Zan'kaja, who ground his teeth together and kept silent. As soon as he got ahold of that elf girl and could find some way to use her for his own benefit, he was going to stab his shadow magic through that arrogant elf's heart. He narrowed his eyes on Key's back maliciously.

As if sensing his thoughts, the paladin stopped and turned around.

"You coming or do you have the urge to kill off more innocent jungle creatures?"

Key felt quite frustrated with having to rely on this unpredictable Troll to rescue Ana. He was under no illusion of being able to get her out of that Troll camp by himself, which was why he'd agreed to the alliance with the shadowpriest in the first place. But he was coming to regret his decision. The troll was volatile, moody, and violent. And he had no qualms about killing anything or anyone who stood in his way. Key made a note to keep a close eye on his reluctant companion. He'd rather not find himself on the receiving end of that deadly shadow magic. Having moved past the troll and taken the lead, he distinctly felt the troll's malevolent eyes boring into the back of his head. No doubt Zan'kaja was thinking up ways of killing him. Key snorted. Let him try.

He may not be as strong, due to that accursed mark imbedded in his flesh, but he felt confident in his ability to at least put up a good fight. It was the shadowpriest who found the next scout as well, much to Key's annoyance. He hated to admit that the Troll had better eyesight and was more suited to finding and stalking prey in the jungle than he, a stranded blood elf. Not to mention, he wasn't trained in that kind of tactic.

He was more of a frontal assault, bash their brains in kind of fighter. Just the way he liked it. None of that shadow voodoo. He shivered as the scout dropped like a stone, mirroring the bird's fall. It was unnatural. But a necessary evil he must endure to rescue Ana. Than…than they'd see who bested who, he thought with a wary glance at his companion. The troll raised his eyebrow. A rare beam of sun filtered down through the leafy canopy, dancing off the bangles and rings embedded in the Troll's ears and around his neck. Briefly Key thought about mentioning that the shine would give them away and mister shadow magic should put away his shinies, but he thought it not worth the ensuing argument and just shrugged.

"Come on than Zanny, we should be on the outskirts of the camp by now." He said instead, deliberately sounding flippant. The shadow priest hissed angrily.

"Never be callin' me dat again mon. You disgrace the name given to—" "Ya ya, whatever" Key interrupted, waving his hand casually. "I know, you're some big strong troll priest with powerful shadow magic and I should tremble in my poor little boots in your presence."

"How dare ya, ya insolent wretch, I be—"

"Who's there mon? Announce yeself or I'll sick the raptor on ya." The third voice, strange and threatening, cut across their furious whispering like a knife. Both paladin and shadow priest stiffened in surprise and glanced ahead. Barely visible through the trees, Key could make out the large form of a troll wearing the markings and armor of the Skullsplitter tribe. He carried a bow, already knocked and was scanning their location warily.

Key groaned, not able to believe his misfortune. Not only was it a hunter, but apparently his pet was nearby as well. He squinted and could make out a patch of crimson among the greens. A raptor all right, and a grown one by the looks of it. Great, just great. He was tempted to turn around and blame the Troll for causing them to be noticed, but it was his fault as well.

"Can you…you know, magic him?" Key asked quickly, keeping his voice as low as he could and still be heard. Zan'kaja glared at him.

"It won't be enough to be killin' him like da others now dat he is aware d'ere is somethin' out here. He be more alert and be harder to take down. Not to mention, he be havin' a raptor who won't just sit around while I take out his master."

Key sighed in aggravation. "Well here goes. You take the raptor, I'll get the scout this time."

Before the troll could protest, Key darted out of the shadows and slammed into the Skullsplitter troll, knocking him back a step. Unfortunately, the troll was sturdier than he looked, a tall and narrow hipped creature with feathered shoulder pads and dried leather leggings. Quicker than his eye could follow, the troll hunter had an arrow knocked and whistling for his heart. He barely deflected the projectile in time, knocking the arrow to the side where it struck the earth and quivered on end.

A brief glance to the side and a strange shriek-cough announced the raptor. Seconds before it could slam into him, talons leading, the creature was struck by a violet miasma. It shrieked loudly and shook it's head, listing crazily to the side. The hunter's eyes narrowed and he glanced around the foliage, eyes scanning for another life form with his unique tracking skills. Before he could hone in on Zan'Kaja's location and loose another deadly arrow, Key violently rammed into him, holy magic lighting up his stolen weapon and leading the way.

The hunter backpedaled, trying to keep distance between himself and the paladin. Key felt his blood sing, full of battle lust and the strength of his calling. He may not be a member of the Silver Hand like those Alliance paladins, or any kind of shining knight of Stormwind, but he'd been trained as a paladin regardless, using faith, dedication and belief to strengthen his ties to the light. He struck again, using his holy magic to form a hammer of light to strike against the hunter, who cried out in pain and fell onto his back. A shrill cry from somewhere behind him alerted him to the fact that the raptor was still very much alive and felt his master's distress. His brief distraction was just enough for the hunter to leap backwards.

Where he'd stood was a small, steel jawed trap that Key noticed too late. It closed about his boot and he was thankful he'd taken the trolls' armor back in the clearing or he might be missing a foot right about now. He doubted shadow magic could heal that kind of injury, let alone reattach the appendage. Nevertheless, the trap did it's job, effectively slowing down his movement as he tried to disentangle himself from the wires and steel teeth. He spat a sindorei curse at the troll as he avoided another fast-as-light arrow.

"Hey, a little help over here!" Key called behind him, still struggling with the trap.

He sliced his palm open trying to pry the steel trap off his boot and shook it vigorously to shake off the pain. Without warning he was pitched violently forward and lost his grip on the trap as he fell. Something heavy and powerful landed on his back and he felt needle-sharp talons dig into the muscle. He twisted viciously, trying to dislodge the large beast and managed to turn half on his side, bringing his sword up to prevent the creature from eviscerating him with its large teeth. He stared up into golden eyes that held unnatural intelligence, the same kind of cunning the hunter possessed.

Chilled, he wedged his sword between its talons, forcing it upward. Trying to keep the raptor from tearing into him like a tender steak was proving rather difficult when it was practically sitting on him. Twisted as he was, he couldn't gain enough leverage to push the beast off and its talons were raking furloughs in his unprotected flesh. The raptor reared, mouth agape. Key got an entirely too personal view of rows of jagged, dagger sharp teeth as the raptor triumphantly arched its neck, its beady eyes full of the promise of a bloody victory.

And than it pitched over sideways, where it struggled briefly after coughing up blood. Violet colored shadow magic leaked out of its nostrils as it stilled.

Key took a deep breath, in awe that he wasn't pet food, than rolled over onto his knees and glanced behind him. Zan'kaja limped out of the shadows of the trees, three claw marks marring his features. Key nodded grimly at the troll.

A series of words in a guttural language reminded him of the hunter and he spun back around awkwardly, almost losing his balance. Yanking at the trap, he saw the hunter gazing at his pet with a mingled look of deep sorrow and vengeance. Than the hunter focused on Key. Key suppressed the rather petty urge to step back and point his finger at the shadow priest. He doubted that would help anyway.

Before he could blink, the air filled with arrows. Swiftly, Key swiftly whispered the words to a hand of protection spell and felt the holy magic wash over him, numbing his mind and causing him to freeze in place as it placed a shield of holy magic around it's user, protecting him against the deadly assault of the arrows.

Already, he felt light-headed from overuse of his holy power and he resentfully rubbed his side as the hand of protection wore off. The hunter was slowly backing away now, eyes darting between the two intruders and his dead pet. Before Key could think of a way to stop him, the Skullsplitter raised his head and gave an ear-ringing yell. Even if he didn't understand the language, Key got the meaning well enough and cursed in frustration. He was hoping they'd get further than this before becoming discovered. Seconds after his yell, the hunter jerked in agony and crumpled to the ground, holding his head.

He then sagged sideways.

Key jerked in surprise as the cold, oily feel of shadow magic brushed up against his holy aura and he turned to see that the shadow priest had stopped at his side. Without a word, Zan'kaja bent swiftly and pried the trap off Key's foot.  
"I suggest we be findin' the elf girl before da Skullsplitters be findin us, eh mon?" Zan'kaja's voice was full of the dark promise of violence and Key almost felt sorry for the Skullsplitter Trolls.

Almost.

And then he remembered that they had captured Ana and were doing who knew what to her at this very moment. A small part of him was also wondering how this shadow priest seemed to so powerful and yet had allowed a Skullsplitter war party to decimate his own party and seemingly incapacitate him.

He vowed to find out what was really going on behind that pair of devious red eyes as soon as he rescued Ana. As ironic as it was, he wished he was still back in Everlook with the rest of Ana's gang as they planned their next step. Things just seemed to get more complicated by the day.


End file.
